The court started hearing the case of former TOP 09 MP Dominik Feri, who is charged with two counts of rape and one attempted rape. February 14, 2023, Prague.
Prague – Former MP Dominik Feri denied that he committed any sexual violence at the District Court for Prague 3. He believes that he will prove his innocence in the main trial. Feri faces charges of two counts of rape and another count of attempted rape. Today, the case began to be discussed by the court amid great interest from the media, the main trial is also scheduled for Thursday.
Advertisement'; }
Photo gallery
Feri testified before the court in the morning, after which came the statements of the injured girls. However, judge Lenka Hájková excluded the public from their interrogation due to sensitive details. The public will not even participate in the expert hearings.
Prosecutor Petra Gřivnová describes three acts in the indictment. According to her, the first happened on the night of March 24-25, 2016, in Feri's apartment in Prague 3. According to the plaintiff, Feri tried to kiss and touch the girl, although she made it clear to him that she did not want intimate contact with him. Feri allegedly then started telling her that she was immature and coaxed her into intimacy. The prosecution claims that when the girl wanted to leave the apartment, Feri offered her a soft drink, after consuming which she fell into a state of “partial loss of consciousness”. According to the file, Feri then, among other things, performed oral sex with the girl.
According to the plaintiff, the second act took place in November 2016, again in Feri's apartment. According to the indictment, Feri had sexual intercourse with this girl despite her disapproval.
According to the plaintiff, the third incident happened at the end of February 2018, when Feri invited a girl to the Chamber of Deputies because of a possible intern position. According to the indictment, Feri began touching her in the kitchen, tried to kiss her and ignored her objections. The girl managed to leave, the prosecution therefore qualifies the act as attempted rape. The girls are asking Ferim for compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
“I am innocent. What the indictment considers me to be guilty, I reject to the full extent. I consider it something that is disgusting, that is disgusting, that I would never be capable of,” said Feri at the beginning of his testimony. He denied committing sexual violence or abusing someone's vulnerability.
According to Feri, he only kissed the first girl, which he said she agreed to. When she told him she didn't want to continue, he didn't press further. He admitted that he might have said something that might have affected the girl, but denied that he would continue with intimate activities. He flatly refused to give her a drink with a narcotic substance.
He told the other girl that she had consensual intercourse with him. He described that the girl continued to communicate with him normally even after intercourse. According to him, it was a “love affair”. According to him, he also kissed the third girl, whom the indictment refers to, with her consent. According to Feri, there are factual contradictions in her testimony, and according to him, it would also make no sense for the act to be committed in a place where anyone could come. According to him, it is also impossible to talk about attempted rape.
After his statement, Feri said that he was ready to answer questions from the parties and the court, but he would do so only after the statements of the victims and witnesses, whom he said he did not want to influence.
Feri was investigated by the police after several women accused him of sexual coercion, harassment and violence. Testimonies were published in the spring of 2021 by the Deník N and Alarm websites. He said today that all the cases mentioned in the texts have been investigated and legally dismissed. “This whole case started on something that turned out to be false,” Feri said.
Feri also denied cooperating with police. He said he was cooperating with the police. However, after the initiation of the criminal prosecution, he wanted to wait until the complaint against the accusation was decided, he said. According to him, the police did not respect this.
After the girls' statements were published in the media, Feri resigned from his parliamentary mandate and announced that he would not run for office in the fall elections to the House of Representatives. He also finished in TOP 09 and withdrew from public life. He told reporters today that he is now fully focused on the court proceedings.
