Prosecution of David Duke at a standstill

The criminal prosecution of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke in the Czech Republic has come to a standstill. Filip Vávra, a longtime activist on the extreme-right scene who recently invited the American to the Czech Republic, has refused to testify regarding the circumstances of Duke’s visit. The Týden.cz web server reports that his testimony is crucial. Police officers arrested Duke at the end of April during his visit to Prague. They charged him with denying the Holocaust in his book My Awakening, which has been released in Czech translation as Moje probuzení. He was subsequently deported from the country.

According to the web server, the state prosecutor instructed the police to interrogate not only Vávra, but also Kryštof Kozák of the department of American Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, in whose course Duke was to have spoken. In the end the university did not permit the event. The state prosecutor has written that “given the existing state of evidence it is not possible to prosecute the accused [Duke]”.

The server reports that Vávra refused to testify at the time of Duke’s arrest, saying he might “cause [him]self problems.” He is said to have visited a police station a second time at the start of this week. The server reports he has once again refused to testify and has been fined CZK 3 000 as a result. The server also reports that his attorney, Klára Slámová, has filed a complaint against the fine, calling it unconstitutional behavior on the part of the police. However, according to the server, Vávra could face more fines and higher ones should he continue to remain silent.

Týden.cz reports the police are refusing to comment. “The investigation of the case is ongoing. However, we have no new information to release,” Prague Police spokesperson Eva Miklíková told the server.

Duke came to the Czech Republic at the end of April to lecture and, according to web pages devoted to his visit, also to promote his book. Police and experts say he denies the Holocaust in the publication, for which he faces up to three years in prison.

Duke’s attorneys said previously that the American had no influence over the publication of his book in the Czech Republic because he does not own the copyright. Moreover, he wrote it in the USA, where it is not considered criminal, during the 1990s. Slámová said criminal prosecution would therefore be impossible due to statutes of limitations. However, according to another legal opinion, Holocaust denial is a crime against humanity and is not subject to statutes of limitations.

Police are also investigating whether the publisher committed a crime in releasing Duke’s book. The publishing house Kontingent Press is behind its publication in the Czech Republic. Police have of course admitted that the publisher will evidently not be charged, as the book includes a preface in which the company distances itself from the content.

On its web page, the company says the book is “flawlessly executed propaganda set in the 21st century.” “However, from the first page to the last, the reader should reflect on the fact that this content is primarily propaganda. It is a work of factual manipulation which Duke handles masterfully,” the publishing house says on its website.

The company has already published several controversial titles, such as two books by the American neo-Nazi adherent William Luther Pierce – The Turner Diaries and the novel The Hunter. Both books are strongly racist and anti-Semitic. The Czech Police recently investigated the publication of The Turner Diaries and came to the conclusion that publication of the book was not a crime.