Court returns case of Bečva River poisoning to prosecutor citing numerous shortcomings

The District Court in Vsetín has returned the case of the Bečva River poisoning in 2020 to the prosecutor for further investigation. The chief judge said there were substantial shortcomings in the evidence presented. The case will be returned to the state attorney and subsequently to police investigators.

Education Minister Petr Gazdík, a former member of the parliamentary commission of inquiry that dealt with the case, said in response to the court’s decision that “heads should "roll" at the police and prosecutor's office in Vsetín for doing a disgraceful job in tracing the culprit. The 2020 cyanide leak into the Bečva River killed all living organisms along a 40-km stretch of the river, including over 32,000 tons of fish.