Supreme Court overturns verdict for man accused of fighting with pro-Russian separatists

The Czech Supreme Court overturned the verdict of the Prague Municipal Court on Tuesday, which had sentenced Alojz Polák, a man accused of involvement in fighting against Ukraine, to 20 years in prison. The Supreme Court approved both the prosecution and defence’s appeals against the verdict and ordered the case to be reopened.

Alojz Polák, who is being tried in absentia, stands accused of taking part in a terrorist attack and being part of a terrorist group for fighting with pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine between 2016 and 2020 and killing at least four Ukrainian soldiers. Polák left Prague in December 2016 for the territory of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic", which is controlled by Russian troops. However, according to Hana Chaloupková, judge at the Municipal Court in Prague which ruled on the case in April this year, there is no solid evidence proving that he killed anyone, the Czech News Agency reports.

Czech courts have already dealt with several similar cases this year. In May, the Supreme Court confirmed a 20-year prison sentence for Pavel Botka, and Jiří Urbanek received the same sentence in January. Martin Sukup received a 21-year sentence, and the Belarusian Alexej Fadejev’s sentence was increased to 4.5 years last year.