Historic Olšansy cemeteries case shelved

The State Prosecutor’s Office has refused to reopen a case centred on Prague’s Olšansy cemeteries and the police have therefore shelved the matter, Czech Television reported. Lawyer Tomáš Nahodil petitioned for the case to be reopened this year, saying new evidence had come to light.

According to archival documents, an investigation into a case of alleged vandalism at the cemeteries was manipulated by the communist secret police in the 1980s. Three young men were convicted by judge Robert Fremr, who this year withdrew his candidacy for the Constitutional Court. One of the men was not even present when the alleged crime of damaging Russian and Bulgarian war graves took place.