Czech court rules that expert witness on extremism is not biased

The District Court for Prague 1 has rejected an objection of bias filed against an expert witness on extremism, Ivo Svoboda, by attorney Robert Cholenský concerning a case of promoting neo-Nazism and convening neo-Nazi events. Cholenský objected to what he alleged were high prices for Svoboda’s affidavits, as well as the fact that Svoboda had referred to right-wing extremists in an interview for news server Týden.cz as “deprived, stupid brutes”. Michaela Wenzlová, spokesperson for the District Court, said the court has come to the conclusion that Svoboda is not biased.

Cholenský is representing Patrik Vondrák, the former chair of the Prague cell of the dissolved neo-Nazi Workers’ Party (Dělnická strana – DS). In his objection, he presented information as to how much Svoboda was reportedly paid for certain affidavits, arguing that there was a suspicion that the affidavits were overpriced and police were aware of it. The other section of his objection concerned Svoboda’s statements to Týden.cz.

“You have to take a certain amount of precautions and do your job. You can’t pay attention to the gossip and insults, because these deprived, stupid brutes don’t know how to communicate in any other way,” news server Týden.cz quoted Svoboda as saying in the context of the fact that ultra-right adherents had been publishing his personal information. Cholenský argued in his objection that this statement was completely inappropriate and was grounds for Svoboda to be removed.

“If I made a statement of some sort, I was probably using the term ‘social deprivation’, which experts know is one of the main causes of extremism – deprivation flowing from deep frustration,” Svoboda told the Czech daily Lidové noviny at the end of January. He added that he had not made the remarks about specific people.

Attorney Petr Kočí also filed similar objections to Cholenský’s against Svoboda in several trials where Kočí is defending adherents of the ultra-right Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti – DSSS). Svoboda said two objections of bias against him were rejected by the Municipal Court in Brno in January, which court spokesperson Gabriela Stočková has confirmed. In both cases, Stočková said the attorney objected to the expert’s alleged economic dependency on the production of affidavits. In one case he also argued that the statements published by Týden.cz were grounds for Svoboda’s removal.

The lawsuit being tried by the District Court for Prague 1 describes four crimes. All of the defendants have rejected all of the charges. The first charge is that Vondrák, former party member Michaela Dupová, Richard Lang (a candidate for the DS during the EP elections), Petr Fryč, and Filip Vávra posted promotional materials for the neo-Nazi National Resistance (Národní odpor – NO) in the center of Prague on 4 December 2008.

Vondrák, Dupová, Lang; the former chair of the DS organization at regional level in Vysočina, Milan Hroch; former DS member Martin Václavek; and Daniel Zavadil are charged with organizing and convening a gathering and march on 6 June 2009 in Jihlava. A municipal official dispersed the event immediately once it began. It had been announced as a commemorative march in honor of the memory of the victims of WWII, but the real purpose of the march, according to the case file, was to honor the memory of fallen Wehrmacht soldiers and members of the SS. Herbert Schweiger, a veteran of Adolf Hitler’s Leibstandarte division of the SS, made a public speech at the gathering.

Dupová faces charges for two other crimes. According to the case file, she participated in creating and running the website of Resistance Women Unity (RWU), which police say is the women’s branch of the neo-Nazi NO. In addition, the charges say she participated in organizing and convening a concert of “white power music” in February 2009 in Srby (Kladno district).

The trial of the eight people for promoting a movement aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms began in October 2010. At the end of December 2010, presiding judge Věra Bártová recused herself for conflict of interest. The case was then taken up by the then-chair of the District Court, Libor Vávra. However, he later was appointed to the position of Vice-Chair of the Municipal Court in Prague. The new presiding judge is Dana Šindelářová. The main hearing is scheduled for next Monday. Given the change of presiding judges, the trial will start from the beginning.