From death row to life sentence: Czech court weighs inmate’s release
A Czech court is due to rule on the possible release of the Czech Republic’s longest-serving inmate –a brutal murderer who narrowly escaped the death penalty thanks its abolition after the fall of communism. The first prisoner in Czechia to receive a life sentence is now seeking parole.
Zdeněk Vocásek was condemned to death in Czechoslovakia in September 1988 for two exceptionally brutal murders and one attempted murder. His first victim, a 48-year-old disabled man, was bludgeoned with a hammer and stabbed with a screwdriver on New Year’s Day 1987. Four months later, Vocásek stabbed to death a 69-year-old acquaintance with what the judge described as a show of extreme brutality. It later emerged that in 1984 he had attacked another man with a hammer, who fortunately survived. He killed for profit and to settle personal disputes, showing no remorse in the courtroom . Like Vocásek himself, his victims lived on the fringes of society.
He was handed the death sentence and was scheduled for execution in December 1989, but the fall of communism in 1989 saved him from Death Row. After the abolition of capital punishment in 1990, his sentence was commuted to life, making him the first prisoner in the Czech Republic to receive a life sentence. Behind bars, Vocásek changed his surname to Navrátil, claims to have been reformed, and has repeatedly sought parole.
The District Court in Most is handling the latest petition because Bělušice Prison, where he is currently being held, falls within its jurisdiction. The court’s verdict is likely to be announced on Wednesday September 17 and public interest in the outcome is high. The proceedings will be held by video conference, with media granted access to the digital courtroom.
More than half of Czechs would support the reintroduction of the death penalty
According to a 2025 poll by the Centre for Public Opinion Research more than half of respondents (52%) over the age of 15 would bring back the death penalty. 45% disagree with its reintroduction and 3% of respondents chose the option "don't know".
The most common arguments in its favour are that it "brings just satisfaction to the families of the victims" (66%), and the need to apply the principle "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (40%).
Among the top arguments against are 'risk of convicting someone innocent' (81%) and 'risk of abuse' of the institution (72%).
48 other convicts serving life sentences
Alongside Vocásek, 48 others are serving life terms in Czech prisons, three of them women. Only three prisoners sentenced for life have ever been freed. The first was Jiří Kajínek, pardoned by President Miloš Zeman in May 2017 after 23 years in prison.
The second was František Müller, convicted in Germany for robbing and murdering a jeweler. He was released in 2018 after serving 20 years.
In October 2021, Robert Tempel was freed after about 20 years in custody. He had been acquitted of murder due to lack of evidence, following interventions by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the Czech Constitutional Court. Tempel is now seeking compensation.
