Prague, Jan 31 (CTK) – The Czechs who were kidnapped in Lebanon and whose compensation claim for 40 million crowns was rejected by state authorities want to file a complaint in court, Czech Radio (CRo) said on Tuesday, quoting one of them, lawyer Jan Svarc.
Svarc has declined to specify the claimed sum.
The compensation claim was not signed by military agent Martin Psik.
Their compensation claim was rejected by the finance, interior, foreign and justice ministries.
The Interior Ministry argued that not the state, but organisers of the trip should shoulder the responsibility.
The five men disappeared in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in July 2015. They returned to the Czech Republic in early February 2016.
They claimed that the secret services could have averted the kidnapping.
In their earlier demand, translator Adam Homsi, Svarc and journalists Miroslav Dobes and Pavel Kofron wrote that the state failed in connection with their abduction.
They wrote that if the secret services had cooperated properly, the incident would not have occurred.
According to them, the civilian intelligence had the information that a revenge for the arrest of Lebanese agent Ali Fayad is being prepared. The United States asked the Czech Republic to extradite Fayad. Svarc was his lawyer.
On the day the five Czechs returned home, Fayad was released from custody in the Czech Republic. This was criticised by the United States that suspects him of having links to a terrorist organisation.
Lebanon, where Fayad is staying, refused to extradite him to the USA last March.
Shortly afterwards, Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky (ANO) confirmed for the media that the five Czechs were released on condition that the Czech Republic does not extradite Fayad to the United States.
