The Czech court sentenced its citizen in absentia to 20 years in prison for participating in the war in Donbass on the side of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). This is reported by the edition Idnes…
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The court made the decision in the absence of the defendant. His lawyer was also unable to meet with him, since the accused Jiri Urbanek is not in the country.
According to the court, Urbanek left for the self-proclaimed republic in 2015. He took part in hostilities until the end of January 2018. A citizen of the Czech Republic has repeatedly stated on social networks that he is fighting against the Ukrainian army.
The defendant’s lawyer disagreed with the verdict. In his opinion, Facebook posts cannot be used as evidence of his participation in armed clashes. The defense lawyer asked the judge to mitigate the sentence.
Judge Gana Kristinova refused a lawyer, stating that Urbanek did not deny his involvement in the hostilities in Donbas.
In June, a Prague court also sentenced Czech citizen Martin Kantor to 20 years in prison for fighting on the side of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR). In 2016, a friend of the defendant received condolences by mail in connection with the death of Kantor.