Czech Constitutional Court says extension of custody for neo-Nazi leader violated her rights

The Czech Constitutional Court ruled today that Michaela Dupová, the informal leader of the women’s branch of the neo-Nazi movement in the Czech Republic, spent several months in custody on the basis of a verdict that did not respect her fundamental rights. The Municipal Court in Prague justified its extension of her time in custody by saying Dupová was communicating by mail with people on the ultra-right scene, but the Constitutional Court ruled that it and of itself that had not been sufficient reason to extend her time in custody, as the right to conduct correspondence is guaranteed by the Constitution and the legal code.

In her complaint, Dupová claims the courts extended her time in prison solely on the basis of her political opinions. She was released from custody by the Prague 1 District Court long before the Constitutional Court’s ruling today, which has no direct effect on her at this time. However, it may open the way for her to seek compensation for her illegal imprisonment.

The Constitutional Court said the Municipal Court’s mistake was that it did not address the content of the correspondence when ruling to extend her custody, basing the decision solely on the fact that her correspondents were members of the right-wing extremist scene. The court could theoretically have used the content of those letters against Dupová if, for example, she had planned or supported a crime in them – “but essentially not the mere fact that she exercised her right to conduct correspondence with other persons, which is guaranteed at both the constitutional and the sub-constitutional levels of the law,” the Constitutional Court’s finding reads.

Dupová was imprisoned after the police raids on the neo-Nazi scene in October 2009. She spent more than a year in custody. She has always denied all charges against her. The dubious Prague Municipal Court verdict to extend her time in custody, which the Constitutional Court overturned today, was handed down in July 2010. The Prague 1 District Court decided to release her last December. She posted bail of CZK 400 000 and made a written promise to refrain from criminal activity.

Along with others, Dupová faces charges of promoting and supporting a movement aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms. Together with other right-wing extremists, she organized a 2009 ultra-right gathering in Jihlava. According to the case files, she provided drums and made funeral wreaths for an event in honor of fallen Nazi soldiers. In December 2008, she is alleged to have participating in posting stickers of the National Resistance (Národní odpor – NO), an informal Czech neo-Nazi organization, in the center of Prague.

Dupová is also the sole defendant in two other criminal cases. According to the files, she is alleged to have participated in creating and running the website of Resistance Women Unity (RWU). Police claim this is the women’s branch of the NO. According to the charges against her, Dupová was the administrator of the website and published both her own articles on it and articles by others which the state prosecutor says disseminated and promoted Nazi and neo-Nazi ideas.

The file also says she participated in organizing and running a concert of “white power music” in support of neo-Nazis in detention and in prison. The concert took place in February 2009 in Srby na Kladensku and was attended by about 120 people. The suit against her claims she knew those performing at the concert and those attending it would be disseminating the ideas of Nazism and neo-Nazism.

Eight people, including Dupová, are being tried on these charges at the Prague 1 District Court. The original head judge, Věra Bártová, recused herself after public criticism of her former membership in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. In February the case was taken over by Judge Libor Vávra.

Dupová was convicted in May in a trial also involving the leaders of the dissolved Workers’ Party. The Brno Municipal Court handed down suspended prison sentences and fines to the defendants for statements they made at a 1 May demonstration in 2009.