Prague, Nov 30 (CTK) – The punishment for support for terrorism in the Czech Republic will be stiffer under an amendment to the criminal code passed by the Senate on Wednesday, with the public agreement with a committed terrorist act carrying three to 12 years in prison.
The financing of terrorism and its promotion will be separate criminal acts.
The legislation, approved by the Chamber of Deputies on October 19, is yet to be signed by President Milos Zeman into law.
It is based on the demands of international organisations.
The present Czech legal order punishes the financing of terrorism primarily through the crime of terrorist attack.
The amendment includes a separate crime committed by those who “alone or through a different person support a terrorist, a terrorist group or its member or the perpetration of a terrorist criminal act with money or material” or who gather money or other things for this purpose.
The financing of terrorism can be punished with up to 12 years in prison and the forfeiture of property.
The new crimes include the threat with a terrorist act and participation in a terrorist group.
The amendment also introduces stricter punishment for robbery, theft, fraud and blackmail committed in order to facilitate or enable a terrorist crime or its financing.
When insisting on a swift enactment of the legislation, the Justice Ministry argued that the Czech Republic’s rating could be worsened and Czech companies’ foreign transactions could be limited or blocked [if it were not passed].
There was the threat that the financial contact with the Czech Republic could be considered risky, the ministry said.
The amendment is likely to take effect on February 1, 2017.
