The custody session began at 6:30 p.m. The police escort brought the detainee at 17:45. She is a foreigner. About seven peers gathered on the spot to support the accused with the banner “Don’t take our friendship”. The foreign police subsequently identified them all.
“The accused testified, she stated a few things about her personal situation and the reasons why she is in the Czech Republic and wants to stay here. However, she did not testify to the facts,” said the judge and at the same time the spokesman of the Pardubice District Court, Karel Gobernac, who also decided on custody. He added that she is a foreigner from Eastern Europe.
The girl lived in the Czech Republic for a few years, but she demanded a translation into English. She kept the deadline for filing a complaint against detention. She is accused of the same crimes as the previous people taken into custody, that is, of participation in a terrorist group and of a terrorist attack. She faces twenty years in prison or exceptional punishment.
Those detained in Poland may also face trial there
The three detained in Poland could avoid prosecution in the Czech Republic and would not have to be extradited to the Czech Republic.
“A European arrest warrant was not issued for these persons, in contrast to the accused in Slovakia and Bulgaria. Obviously, it cannot be assumed that they would be directed to the Czech Republic at this time,” added Gobernac.
The legal representative of the accused, who was taken into custody by the court on Easter Monday, appeared in court on Thursday. He complained to journalists that the defense does not have access to the file, which makes its work more difficult.
“It’s been two months since the fire and the situation continues, we are completely denied access to the file,” said Tomáš Verčimák. He admitted that it is legal, but he is considering a petition to the Supreme State Attorney’s Office.
There is nothing strange about the participation of the lawyer of the absent accused, the defense lawyers have the right to participate in the proceedings for taking the accused into custody. “They are informed as standard and it is purely up to them whether they appear. They undoubtedly have the opportunity and the right to familiarize themselves with the reasons that the public prosecutor and the court consider important for the decision on custody,” added Gobernac.
The fire broke out in the Pardubice industrial area early in the morning on Friday, March 20. He destroyed the hall and seriously damaged the adjacent administrative building of the arms company LPP Holding, which produces, among other things, drones for Ukraine. Damage is estimated at several hundred million crowns.
Detectives from the National Center against Terrorism, Extremism and Cybercrime (NCTEKK). Initially, there was talk of a search for nine suspects, in the end ten of them ended up in handcuffs, five of them in the Czech Republic, three in Poland and one each in Bulgaria and Slovakia, while from the last two mentioned countries they were already transferred to Czech prisons. The foreigner detained on Wednesday is therefore the eleventh person caught by the police across Europe in connection with the arson attack in Pardubice.
