Prague, 25 April 2023. The District Court for Prague 1 today began the main trial of former Czechoslovak Interior Minister Vratislav Vajnar (*1930) in his absence in the case of the 1983-1988 killing of civilians on the Iron Curtain. The defendant excused himself for health reasons. After reading the indictment, witness statements and reviewing the documentary evidence, the court requested a third medical report on the defendant based on the defense’s argument. The hearing was adjourned to August 15, 2023.
This is a great success for the Platform of European Memory and Conscience, which, in the framework of the Justice 2.0 project, has found a legal way to break through the wall of impunity for perpetrators of serious crimes of Communism. In 2016, it filed criminal charges in Germany in the cases of five Germans killed at the Czechoslovak border, naming the entire chain of persons responsible, starting with top Communist Party and state officials. A year later, in 2017, a similar and expanded criminal complaint was filed with the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office in Brno. A joint Czech-German investigative team was then formed. As a result of several years of efforts, today’s opening of the main trial of the first perpetrator, ex-minister Vajnar, who is responsible for the death of František Faktor (+1984), Hartmut Tautz (+1986), Johann Dick (+1986) and the injuries to Jürgen Seifert (1983), Wolfgang Günter Hofmann (1986) and Uwe Lenzendorf (1988).
The judge Ms Kateřina Rybáková granted the defence’s request and adjourned the hearing until 15 August, when a further, third medical assessment of the defendant’s condition is to be submitted. State prosecutor Katarína Kandová proposed a two-year suspended sentence with a three-year probationary period and a fine of CZK 100 000. “Depending on the course and outcome of the evidence, the length of these sentences will be specified,” she told journalists.
At the Platform’s subsequent press conference Dr. Lubomír Müller, the attorney for the victims, told journalists that this was the first such case to go to trial. “The defendant testified that he likes Švejk, knows him well, has read him many times. The question arises whether Švejk’s attitudes in life are some inspiration for his defence in these proceedings.” says Dr. Müller, adding: “The fact that the case is being heard in court at all is a moral satisfaction for the victims.”
“A consistent next step would be to hold other persons who were part of the state machinery criminally responsible. Similar to what happened in Germany in the so-called Berlin Wall shooters trials,” says criminal law expert Konrad Menz of the Berlin law firm Derra, Meyer & Partner.
“We have been waiting for the outcome of our criminal complaint for almost seven years. The strategy of the perpetrators is clear, they make excuses. It is sad that, despite the fact that these are serious crimes, the Czech judiciary still lacks vigour and incisiveness, and that it is throwing more time at the accused,” says Dr. Neela Winkelmann, former Director of Platform.
The project presentation at the press conference was made possible thanks to the support of
