Czech Police charge two men over video in which one threatens to stab politician
Czech Police have charged two men from northern Bohemia over a video in which one threatens to stab the politician Tomio Okamura. The other man filmed and broadcast the video live through social media.
Should the men be convicted, they face up to three years behind bars. Liberec Regional Police spokesperson Vladimíra Šrýtrová informed public broadcaster Czech Television of the charges.
The man who made the remarks has apologized through social media and Liberec-based organizations of Romani people have distanced themselves from their fellow community member. “In association with this case we have used an accelerated preliminary procedure to communicate the charge of the suspected commission of felony violence against a group of inhabitants or against individuals to a 52-year-old man from Liberec who currently faces a possible prison sentence ranging from six months to three years,” the spokesperson said, according to Czech Television, referencing the paragraph in the law according to which it is also possible to punish a death threat motivated by political convictions.
Charges were also brought against a 34-year old man from Jablonec who broadcast the video through his Facebook profile. Officers have charged him under the same section of the law, also in an accelerated procedure.
“The detective categorized his behavior as felony violence against a group of inhabitants and against individuals. The reason is the fact that the video footage of the meeting that contains the speech targeting Tomio Okamura, a member of the Czech Parliament, was uploaded to his Facebook profile, which facilitated its being shared. The person who did so also faces a possible sentence of between six months and three years in prison,” the police spokesperson added.
“We should discuss a serious matter that concerns Mr Okamura. You all know very well that he wants to get rid of aid to those in material distress and housing benefits. We disagree with that. Yesterday he gave a smaller speech about it in the Chamber of Deputies, where he wanted to address this,” the man who has now been charged says in the video produced at the beginning of August.
“We will fight Okamura, everybody needs to join the fight against Okamura, we’ll take up our knives and stab him,” the man said with a tableware knife in his hand. Police began to investigate his remarks after Okamura himself published the video to his own Facebook profile at the beginning of September.
