Two of four Czech arsonists who maimed a Romani child in 2009 to be released early, her family is in shock
A court in Šumperk, Czech Republic will conditionally grant an early release to Václav Cojocaru, who was sentenced to 20 years for committing the infamous arson attack in Vítkov. The court also acceded to a request for early conditional release from another person convicted of that same crime, Ivo Müller.
The convicts have served just two-thirds of their sentences. Judge Lubomír Kozák ruled that both men will be on probation for seven years.
“I feel sick,” Anna Siváková, mother of Natálka, the infant who was severely burned in the attack, told news server Romea.cz in response to the court decision. “I’m absolutely in shock.”
“My children are afraid. When they heard, they said they want to move away,” she said, in tears.
“Natálka is staying in bed, she’s not saying anything,” the mother said, adding that she was not doing well psychologically. “She doesn’t want to go anywhere, she’s telling me that she has suffered enough.”
“We had to tell her the truth about how it all happened,” Siváková explained to Romea.cz. The Czech Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková also responded to the news as follows: “I am in shock, at a human level and at a moral level, over the decision by the court in Šumperk to conditionally release two of the arsonists in the Vítkov case.”
“I respect the decision, but I cannot imagine how Natálka and her family must be feeling now. I will try to find an appropriate format for supporting them,” Fuková said.
Prosecutor Tomáš Horák agreed with the applications in both cases but is still reserving the option to file a complaint within the next three days. After the hearing, he told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) that his doing so was just a formality.
The prosecutor is not counting on filing a complaint. The convicts will be released at the start of next week, their attorney Ladislav Myšák told ČTK.
Judge Kozák said both applications fulfilled the formal conditions and that the convicts have two-thirds of their sentences behind them. They will be supervised by probation officers and are obliged to pay for the damage caused during their probationary period.
The court estimates the amount of damage to be redressed at CZK 17 million [EUR 724,000]. According to the judge, a clinical psychologist’s expert evaluation found a positive prognosis in both cases.
Both convicts received dozens of disciplinary commendations in prison. “The court considers there is nothing to prevent it from granting the application,” the judge said.
The court records show that the four youths attacked the single-family home occupied by the Romani family on the night of 19 April 2009, and the verdict referenced the fact that they apparently organized the entire action to honor Adolf Hitler’s birthday. They threw Molotov cocktails through the windows.
The house caught fire immediately. Three people were injured, and the most seriously injured was Natálka, who was not yet two years old at the time.
She suffered burns over 80 % of her body and lost three fingers. According to experts, all four of the convicts were active neo-Nazis in North Moravia who espoused racism.
Cojocaru and Müller were convicted by the High Court in Olomouc in March 2011 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Müller’s sentence was reduced by the High Court at that time from 22 years to 20.
Müller was aided by the fact that he expressed regret and assisted the police with solving the entire crime. Jaromír Lukeš and David Vaculík were also sentenced to 22 years in prison; the applications for early release were decided by the court in Šumperk because Mírov Prison is in its jurisdiction.
