Tomio Okamura fined for referring to fellow deputy in parliament as a “modern-day Hitler”

Tomio Okamura, the leader of the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party (SPD), has been fined for a statement made at the beginning of May in the Czech Chamber of Deputies, in which he compared Deputy Speaker Jan Bartošek to a modern-day Hitler. Okamura was fined 20,000 crowns by the parliamentary Mandate and Immunity Committee, which recognised his remark about Bartošek’s morals and manner of speaking as a disciplinary offence. The committee has the power either to impose a monetary penalty or demand an apology. Pavel Staněk, the vice-chairperson of the committee, said “we found it entirely more rational to impose a fine than an almost possibly unenforceable apology”. Okamura has the right to appeal the verdict.