Benešov court hands down sentences to group of neo-Nazis over brutal attack

Yesterday the District Court in Benešov handed down sentences to a group of youths suspected of sympathizing with neo-Nazism. Five of them will go to prison for attacking several people in Benešov in October 2008. One of their victims lost his spleen as a result. Three of the assailants will go to maximum-security prisons, while the two juveniles will go to a special juvenile facility. Six youths also received suspended sentences and one was sentenced to community service. The trial was closed to the public because some of the defendants are juveniles.

The verdict has yet to take effect. One of those sentenced has forfeited his right to appeal, but his friends still have that right. Both the other defendants and the prosecutor are taking time to consider appeals.

The attorney-in-fact for one of the victims, Jakub Polák, appealed on the spot against the amount of damages awarded. Polák does not agree with the court’s finding that only five youths participated in the attack on his client and is convinced that all 12 defendants should be sentenced for the crime. Polák believes the injured youth, who lost his spleen as a result of the attack, would stand a better chance of being compensated if more defendants were found guilty. "The damage award is mistaken as to the number and the determination of those who caused the damage,” Polák told the Czech Press Agency.

A total of 12 youths were on trial. They were convicted of rioting, grievous bodily harm, and violence against a group or individual members of that group. Each defendant faced different criminal charges. The longest sentence handed down by the court to two of the youths was 30 months in prison without parole. The other defendants received two-year sentences. The judges also sentenced two youths to one year in juvenile prison.

Presiding judge Ivana Doubková said the sentences without the possibility of parole concerned serious behavior which she labeled as simply “unnecessary, a heinous assault and maiming.” The judge said that particular victim had been targeted because he was dressed like a “skateboarder”.

Those convicted include 24-year-old Filip Stránský, who has been punished before for racist offenses. He also features in the White Justice case, which police say was a neo-Nazi terrorist cell. In the Benešov case the court sentenced him to 400 hours of community service. "In our opinion all of the sentences are adequate and commensurate, they take into account all of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances,” Doubková told the press.

The group of masked youths attacked several random passers-by in Benešov. Witnesses said they attacked at least eight people. The most seriously injured victim was an 18-year-old student who had to have his spleen removed as a result. The assailants also beat up a Romani man, but the court did not consider his injuries to have been serious.