“Today the proposal of the public prosecutor’s office was accepted and the person against whom the proposal was submitted was taken into custody for all three reasons for detention, that is, fear of escape, continuation of criminal activity and then also fear of influencing witnesses and co-accused,” said judge Karel Gobernac after the hearing.
He confirmed that the person under arrest is a person who is not a Czech citizen and comes from a country outside Europe.
Tomáš Verčivák, the defense attorney of the accused, kept the deadline for filing a complaint against the court’s verdict. “Due to attorney confidentiality, I will not comment further on the person of my client, or the act of which he is accused,” said Verčivák after the meeting.
He complained about the procedure of the police and prosecutor’s office. “As a defense attorney, I am aware that law enforcement authorities are faced with an extraordinary public interest in finding and punishing the perpetrators of an attack on the campus of a damaged company. However, it is appropriate for these authorities to proceed with care and balance and not to rely only on a certain first-chance investigative version,” said the lawyer.
He criticized that he and the client did not have the opportunity to view the file, therefore the right to a fair trial is significantly limited. “My client must be looked at as an innocent person throughout the criminal proceedings and the right to a fair trial must be guaranteed for everyone, be it the Prime Minister or a foreigner,” added the lawyer.
The court decided on custody during Easter Monday in order to comply with the statutory deadlines. The court building was closed on Monday and only the prison service was inside.
Roughly seven minutes before half past three, two civilian cars drove into the yard of the Pardubice court, and three police cars, one of which was civilian, were parked in front of the court building.
In addition to them, approximately eight pro-Palestinian supporters of the accused arrived in front of the building. They had with them a banner with the inscription Nezarejejte nam friendship or a sign with the inscription Free Palestine! (Free Palestine)!
So far, five people have been detained in the Czech Republic, so all of them are now in custody. The sixth accused, an American detained in Slovakia, is there in custody awaiting extradition to the Czech authorities. The police also arrested two suspects in Poland. On Friday, another person was detained in Bulgaria, whose extradition the Czech side will also request.
In total, there are nine people suspected of involvement in the arson attack in Pardubice. At least two of them have Czech citizenship.
Photo: Stanislava Králová, Fairpress
Supporters of the accused arrived in front of the Pardubice court building.
The fire broke out in the Pardubice industrial complex on March 20 in the morning hours. He destroyed the production hall of the LPP Holding company and its adjacent administrative building.
The alleged anti-Israel group The Earthquake Faction claimed responsibility for the fire. Some detention sessions in front of the court building are accompanied by silent and noisy support of pro-Palestinian-oriented young people, who often wrap themselves in the Palestinian national flag. They do not communicate with journalists, just like the defense attorneys of the accused.
Arson attack in Pardubice
On Friday, March 20, a fire broke out in the storage hall of the LPP Holding armory in Pardubice. The group Earthquake Faction, which presents itself as a defender of the Palestinians, applied for its establishment.
