Court clears pro-Russian militia group of terrorism charges

A Prague court has acquitted the pro-Russian paramilitary group Czechoslovak Soldiers in Reserve for Peace of charges related to supporting terrorism. However, the group's leader, Ivan Kratochvíl, received a one-year suspended sentence and a five-year ban on organising military or paramilitary associations after being convicted of arranging a volunteer's 2017 trip to fight alongside Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Another defendant received a suspended sentence for illegal weapons possession, while two others were acquitted. Prosecutors had sought lengthy prison terms and the dissolution of the group, making an appeal likely. Czech authorities have previously described the organisation as extremist.