Member of dissolved extremist party convicted of attacking Czech MP

A court in Plzeň has sentenced Václav Prokůpek (39), the former leader of the Olomouc region organization of the now-dissolved Worker’s Party (Dělnická strana – DS) to four months in prison, conditionally suspended for a 1.5 year period, for physically attacking Czech MP Vladislav Vilímec (Civic Democrats -ODS) of Plzeň. The prosecution said that two years ago, Prokůpek punched Vilímec, who at the time was Vice-Governor of the Plzeň Region in charge of the economy, in the center of Plzeň. Vilímec suffered facial weals.

“I feel relieved. I am very glad these attacks are not tolerated in our republic, whether politically motivated or not,” Vilímec told news server Parlamentní listy.

Prokůpek, who previously worked as a sports editor for the tabloid Blesk, was sentenced for rioting because the injuries he caused Vilímec were only slight. The judge also took into consideration the previously clean criminal record of the defendant. Prokůpek must also pay for Vilímec’s medical treatment.

Personality disorder with narcissistic tendencies

During the trial, a court expert stated that Prokůpek is suffering from personality disorder with narcissistic tendencies. The defendant was not present during sentencing. He based his defense on the claim that at the time of the attack he had been in Hungary, working as a journalist for the Slovak Markýza television station, but their staff denied that he had ever worked for them or that they knew him. This was corroborated by mobile telephone records which proved he was in Plzeň at the time. Moreover, the defendant used a credit card at a restaurant near the scene of the crime prior to the incident.

Emboldened by alcohol, Prokůpek left the restaurant and ran into Vladislav Vilímec in Prešovská street. Vilímec was returning from a meeting of the ODS party regional convention, where the regional candidate lists for the parliamentary elections had just been decided. Prokůpek started to punch Vilímec in the head and the upper half of the body after recognizing him as an ODS politician. “From his cursing I know that this was a politically motivated act. He vented his rage on me, saying he had been robbed and blaming the Civic Democrats, among others,” Vilímec told news server Parlamentní listy.

Defending himself with an umbrella, in vain

“I did my best to defend myself with my umbrella, but he hit me several times anyway, the first blow got me beneath the eye,” Vilímec told ParlamentníListy.cz. “I am not a person who runs away, but that guy was a head taller than me and visibly much stronger. The attack had two phases,” Vilímec said. “After the first I decided to keep walking toward náměstí Republiky [Republic Square], but then I changed my mind and decided to call the police and turn back. He attacked me a second time and landed two more blows, one in the head and another in the face,” Vilímec.

The aggressor continued his verbal assault and Vilímec did his best to calm him. “The man eventually admitted that he had nothing against me in particular, that he just wanted to attack a politician and had run into me,” Vilímec said. Vilímec then went for first aid to a clinic, which sent him to the hospital.