Verdict in Vítkov case expected on 20 October, two arsonists apologize

The verdict in the case of the arson attack on a Roma home in Vítkov will be announced on 20 October. Two of the defendants, Václav Cojocaru and Ivo Müller, apologized to the victims in court today for their crime. A third defendant, Jaromír Lukeš, testified that he had not intended to commit murder and claimed to have not known there were people in the house at the time of the attack. David Vaculík relinquished his right to a closing statement.

The state prosecutor is seeking extraordinary sentencing for three of the defendants. Attorneys for Cojocaru, Lukeš, and Müller are asking for more lenient punishments. The attorney for Vaculík has asked that his client be acquitted.

Attorney for Lukeš argues for the lesser charge of reckless endangerment

In his closing argument, Pavel Pěnkava, attorney for Jaromír Lukeš, said the Vítkov arson attack should not be considered attempted murder, but the crime of grievous bodily harm. Lukeš has been labeled one of the organizers of the incident. Pěnkava asked that his client be found guilty of reckless endangerment only.

If the court were to accept this argument, his client would face a significantly lower sentence. The state prosecutor has asked that Lukeš spend approximately 20 years in prison for racially motivated attempted murder.

Pěnkava also rejected the prosecution’s description of the case as that of four neo-Nazis who wanted to commit murder. “These are not murderers standing before the court today. These are not bestial murderers attacking in the name of neo-Nazism, but rather a group of youths who were unable to think through what repercussions their actions might have,” Pěnkava said, adding that there is no evidence to prove Lukeš has neo-Nazi tendencies. He also rejected the view that Lukeš was the organizer of the attack. “On the contrary, he was the last to learn of it,” his attorney argued.

The prosecution says the four young men attacked the home of the nine-member Roma family on 19 April 2009. Three of them threw a Molotov cocktail each through the windows while a fourth waited in the getaway car. Three people were seriously injured by the attack. Natálie, who was not quite two years old at the time, was injured most seriously. The prosecution says the crime was meant to gain publicity for extremist groups and to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the birth of Adolf Hitler.