Prague, 11 June 2024.  At the District court for Prague 1, the trial opened today against Col. Jan Muzikář (90) who was deputy commander-in-chief of the border guards in former Czechoslovakia. He was indicted for the killing of three and the wounding of eleven people on the borders of former Czechoslovakia. One of the victims was Czech, the others were German nationals, among them Hartmut Tautz, the 18-year-old high school graduate from Magdeburg who was mauled by border guard dogs and died in 1986.   

Although a medical attestation was presented by the judge stating that Mr Muzikář had no mental illness or cognitive defects, that he was fully capable of understanding the purpose and sense of the criminal proceedings against him and did not require any special arrangements in the courtroom, the defendant gave a brief statement, claiming he was innocent and asking for permission to leave the courtroom, which was granted. 

“The defendant is trying to put the blame on others, saying he only was an advisor, which is false of course,” says Dr. Neela Winkelmann, manager of the JUSTICE 2.0 – project of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience. Dr. Lubomír Müller, lawyer for the victims, says: ”Not only was he part of the criminal system, he was its key representative”. The trial is the result of criminal complaints filed by the Platform with the Federal Supreme Prosecutor in Germany in 2016 and with the Supreme Prosecutor of the Czech Republic in 2017. 

The defence called several new witnesses and the trial was adjourned till Wednesday, 24 July.