
Expressing Support for Russia or Putin Could be Prosecuted in the Czech Republic

Public support for Russiaโs unprovoked invasion of Ukraine could constitute a criminal offense in the Czech Republic, the countryโs Prosecutor Generalโs Office has confirmed.
Igor Stลรญลพ, the current prosecutor general of Czechia, published a statement on February 26, in which he warned Putin sympathizers that support of the Russian attack or expressed support or praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin and others, could see them face criminal liability, according to Verenjnazaloba.cz.
Strizโs statement cited sections 365 and 405 of the Czech Criminal Code, which state that whoever publicly approves a crime or publicly praises the perpetrator can be imprisoned for up to a year, and that anyone who โpublicly denies, questions, approves or seeks to justify Nazi, communist, or other genocideโ can face a jail sentence of up to three years.
This means that โunder certain conditionsโ, anyone publicly supporting or praising the leaders of the Russian Federation regarding the countryโs attack on Ukraine could face criminal charges, including at demonstrations or even online, Striz said.
โFreedom of speech is enshrined in the constitutional law level in Article 17 of the Charter fundamental rights and freedoms,โ Stลรญลพ told Czech residents, insisting that โeveryone has the right to express their views in a way they consider appropriate,โ but warned that limits to โfreedom of speech in a democratic stateโ are โgoverned by the rule of law.โ
As such, the prosecutor general urged Czech residents not to resort to public statements โthat would go beyond the constitutional requirements and legal restrictions.โ
The Ukrainian Embassy in Czechia tweeted that there were already two cases of detainees accused of contravening the above sections of the Criminal Code.
โWe have recorded dozens of internet comments expressing approval for the Russian invasion and the activities of the Russian army. We are closely monitoring the online sphere and apologise for not responding to every sign in the posts,โ Czech police tweeted.
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