The verdict is not final, the defendants appealed against it on the spot. They refuse guilt. The prosecutor demanded suspended sentences, leaving himself a period of reflection on whether to appeal.
“It will require an even more detailed analysis, which is why I set a deadline,” public prosecutor Jan Černý told reporters. The defendants left the courtroom without responding to journalists’ questions.
The court sentenced 28-year-old Martin V. to three years in prison with a suspended sentence of five years and a ban on practicing the profession, which includes independent decision-making power in public authorities. The court imposed on Michael V., 31, three years ‘imprisonment for three years and a ban, and Josef V., on the other, ten months’ imprisonment for 18 months. In addition, one convicted prisoner should pay CZK 20,000 for non-pecuniary damage.
Two defendants could face up to ten years in prison and one five years for misusing the authority of an official and for committing a breach of duty of the supervisory service. Another 12 guards from Rýnovice are indicted in the next three cases for the same criminal offenses; the verdict in their cases has not yet been handed down.
In all of these cases, the courts dealt with the conduct of the Oversight Officers (OVKT) officers between February 2020 and January 2021. behavior to ensure peace of mind for further service.
Mitigating circumstances
In this case, the court assessed four acts against prisoner Lukáš K. from February to June 2020. Judge Jaroslava Opatrná stated in the reasoning of the judgment that it was a disciplinary person, but according to her it did not justify the defendants to take the right into their own hands.
“The court, on the other hand, states that the OVKT supervisor’s service is very demanding because they worked 12-hour shifts, served in very small numbers, and it was no exception that there was only a 12-hour break between 12-hour shifts,” she said. In addition, according to her, the guards were not trained in the treatment of prisoners who have constant mental problems and abuse the so-called voice to communicate with the guards to enforce their demands.
“This resulted in stress and fatigue of the defendants, as well as a low willingness to deal with the convict’s requests in a lawful manner. The defendants basically could not handle it other than by repeated violations of the law, “the judge added. According to her, they decided to impose suspended sentences on the defendants also because, until their guilt, they were supervisors with excellent evaluation.
Rýnovice Prison spokeswoman Monika Králová has previously said that the prison honors the presumption of innocence and that none of the accused wardens has been removed from duty. Today, she confirmed that nothing has changed. “The prison has not yet received any official opinion and it is difficult to comment on it yet,” she added.
