Czech Police investigating convicted murderer who brandished a submachine gun at launch of new album by xenophobic group
During the launch of the new album by the xenophobic Czech band Ortel, called Zteč ("The Assault"), the convicted-and-then-pardoned murderer Jiří Kajínek made an appearance. He came onstage brandishing a model 58 Czechoslovak assault rifle.
Ortel launched their new album in Plzeň at the Šeříkovka venue. Kajínek, the “godfather” of the album, was pardoned five years ago by Czech President Miloš Zeman.
News server Refresher reported Kájínek waved a bottle of champagne in one hand and the submachine gun in the other. “You all see the prop I’m bringing to Tomáš [Ortel]. The album Zteč deserves the appropriate weapon. Note the bayonet,” the laughing murderer said onstage.
A recording of the launch then appeared on Twitter and sparked a wave of outrage. Local police are investigating the incident.
“What we can say about this case is that we are intensively investigating it to find out what all the circumstances were,” Dagmar Brožová, the police spokesperson, confirmed to news server Deník N. Kajínek told that same news server that “They gave it to me there, I was told it was a replica that I should hand over to Mr. Ortel.”
“That weapon can be freely sold to anybody with an ID card, i.e., without the need for a firearms license, and is of a decorative nature,” Tomáš Ortel, whose birth surname was Hnídek, wrote to Deník N. Before founding the group called Ortel, he founded the neo-Nazi cult band Conflict 88.
In neo-Nazi circles, the number 88 is a cryptogram meaning “Heil Hitler“. The letter “h” is the eighth in the English alphabet.
