Vítkov trial: Did Vaculík download instructions for arson attack from the internet?

Yesterday in Ostrava the trial of the four Vítkov arsonists resumed after a 15-day recess. The main hearing continued with the screening of almost four hours of video footage taken at the crime scene by firefighters immediately after they succeeded in putting out the fire which destroyed a Romani family’s home. Three people were injured during the blaze. The most serious injuries were suffered by a little girl, Natálie, who was not even two years old at the time. The four men who intentionally set the fire are now answering to the court.

Just before screening the documentary footage, the judge announced that one of the family’s attorneys was requesting new evidence related to defendant David Vaculík’s computer. “They are requesting a determination as to when defendant Vaculík downloaded the instructions for this terrorist action from the internet,” the judge explained.

Yesterday all four defendants – Václav Cojocaru, Jaromír Lukeš, Ivo Müller and Vaculík – were seated in the courtroom. While the court summoned them all to testify at the start of the trial, only two, Cojocaru and Müller, wanted to do so. Lukeš and Vaculík have refused to testify. Members of the family attacked by these right-wing extremists and those who know both the defendants and the victims have already testified, as have experts on extremism who confirmed the defendants were active neo-Nazis at the time of the crime.

The four young men attacked the home of the nine-member Romani family in the early morning hours of 19 April 2009. Three of them each threw a Molotov cocktail through the windows of the home, while a fourth, Lukeš, waited in the getaway car. Three people were injured during the subsequent blaze. The youngest victim, Natálie, suffered deep burns over 80 % of her body. The prosecution claims the crime was intended to gain publicity for extremist groups and to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the birth of Adolf Hitler.