Czech state prosecutor: "To shoot the fucker" is a vague statement, it cannot be prosecuted
30. 7. 2018
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Social networks in the Czech Republic, as well as many "alternative" websites are full of death threats, but Czech prosecutors refuse to prosecute these. These death threats are usually hurled at politicians and journalists. Ondřej Kundra, a reporter for the Czech Respekt news magazine, has been the subject of many death threats which have been sent to him by concrete individuals. When the editors of Respekt reported these death threats to the Czech police, the police refused to act, saying that the editors "must respect a different opinion".
"Many people told us that we should report the death threats to the State Prosecutor's Office, surely State Prosecutors are much more professional than the police," says Eric Tabery in a Respekt editorial, just published.
However, it transpires that Czech State Prosecutors do not regard death threats as important, says Tabery.
The statement "To shoot the fucker", which was sent to Ondřej Kundra, is a very vague statement, says a State Prosecutor in an official response to the Respekt weekly. "Considering where it was published and considering that an infinitive has been used, it is obvious that the statement is not directly aimed at journalist Ondřej Kundra. The statement cannot be seen as incitement to violence in terms of Article 364 of the Czech Penal Code, because when the context and the situation in which the statement was made is taken into consideration it is obvious that the statement cannot incite other people to commit a criminal offence."
Such an official statement evidently serves as an encouragement to disseminators of hate speech to do more.
Source in Czech HERE
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