Convicted terrorist Jaromír Balda fails with appeal to Supreme Court

The Czech Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by Jaromír Balda to change his conviction qualification from “terrorist attack" to “public threat", Czech Television reported on Wednesday. The 71–year–old man was convicted of terrorism after seeking to derail a train by cutting two trees onto the tracks. His aim was to create the impression in Czech society that Muslim immigrants were behind the attack, but the attempt failed. Mr Balda originally faced the prospect of five to 15 years in jail, but was only given a four year sentence, due to diminished sanity.