Prague, April 30 (CTK) – Some teachers from Prague’s Charles University and the West Bohemian University protested against the court decision to expel their Russian student Igor Shevtsov, who was acquitted of a Molotov cocktail attack on the house of a Czech minister, Aktualne.cz news server writes on Saturday.
Shevtsov was suspected of throwing Molotov cocktails in the garden of the Prague house of Defence Minister Martin Stropnicky last June. A court decided on Thursday that no evidence proved his guilt. However, the court expelled him from the Czech Republic for two years for having assisted in spraying anarchist inscriptions on a prison wall on a different occasion.
In their written statement, the university teachers say that the 20-year Shevtsov would be expelled based on a court trial that was fabricated and in fact political.
The teachers are alarmed that the judges took part in ideologically motivated bullying of leftist activists.
Petra Burzova, from the Ethnology Institute of Charles University (UK), said the expulsion of her student was inappropriate. “Let’s not forget that Igor (Shevtsov) spent three months of his life in a custody prison due to an unproven accusation. He would deserve an apology rather than punishment,” Burzova told the server.
The only link between Shevtsov and the arson attack is his scent trace that has been found on one of the bottles, which did not fully explode in the minister’s garden and harmed nobody.
UK rector Tomas Zima said he respected and honoured the position of his colleagues who signed the statement in support of Shevtsov.
Iva Piskova, spokeswoman for UK’s Faculty of Arts whose student Shevtsov is, said it is too early to comment on the case as an appeals court will deal with it.
After the verdict was issued, Shevtsov said he would appeal it.
Shevtsov has been staying in the Czech Republic since 2014. He said he came to the country because he could study here for free. His residence permit will expire in mid-May.
Stropnicky, who testified in court, said he believes that the attack was directed against him as defence minister and its motive were his pro-NATO views.
One day before the arson attack, a stricter protection of the minister’s house ended. The stricter protection had been introduced in reaction to increased activities of left-wing radicals.
