Police investigating Filip Turek for possible hate crimes

Police have begun investigating social media posts by Filip Turek from the Motorists' party as possible criminal offenses, including incitement to hatred, defamation of nation or race, and approval of a crime, Prague police spokesman Jan Daněk told the Czech News Agency on Wednesday.

According to Deník N, Turek repeatedly posted racist, sexist, and homophobic statements on social media, including references to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Although Turek has apologized for some of the remarks, he denies authorship of others, and his party has filed a criminal complaint over the Denik N article.

According to Czech Radio, Turek allegedly threatened an employee of the Saudi Arabian embassy eight years ago. A report on Czech Radio’s website iROZHLAS.cz. claims that Turek placed an image of a gallows under the windshield wiper of the employee’s car in a shared garage, while a large hunting cartridge was found on the vehicle’s roof. The incident was reportedly investigated by police at the time. Neither Turek nor the Saudi embassy responded to requests for comment.

The scandal is complicating talks on the emerging coalition government in which the Motorists’ are involved as a coalition partner. ANO deputy leader Karel Havlíček said on Wednesday that Turek has several weeks to clear his name before personnel matters are discussed. President Petr Pavel stated on Tuesday that if the allegations prove to be true, Turek would be disqualified from holding any ministerial position.