Prague, Feb 20 (CTK) – Czech Police President Tomas Tuhy has rejected the statement by Martin Herzan, a member of a Czech police team that served at the Slovenian-Croat border at the turn of the year, that Islamists militants and many weapons were revealed among the migrants crossing the border.
Tuhy said disciplinary proceedings with Herzan had to be launched because of the case.
A policeman must not release in media such information that he did not verify, Tuhy said.
Herzan told daily Pravo earlier this month that his team revealed “dozens of radical Islamic fighters” and that several kilogrammes of weapons were seized from the migrants every day. The Slovenian police mostly let the migrants in the EU, even if the migrants had mobile phones with videos in which they killed or tortured people, Herzan said.
Another policeman, David Predota, who commanded a different Czech police contingent at the Slovenian-Croat border, presented a view of his work that is very different from that of Herzan.
Predota, who was decorated by Slovenian President Borut Pahor on Thursday, has told journalists that up to 8000 refugees mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan crossed the border on some days.
Slovenia does not allow entry of refugees from any other than the above three countries anymore.
Predota said it is hard to say whether families with children, single men or old people prevailed among the migrants.
He said most of the refugees spoke English and tried to communicate because they wanted to have themselves registered quickly and continue with their journey. They also wanted the security checks to proceed smoothly, he added.
The Czech police handed any possible suspicious material or weapon over to their Slovenian colleagues, Predota said.
The items that were taken away from the refugees as potential weapons were mostly razor blades that the men used for shaving, he said.
Predota said other types of weapons were sometimes found as well, but never in high numbers.
At present, the third team of about 20 Czech police officers is operating near the Slovenian-Croat border. They help the Slovenian police search the refugees and accompany the buses transporting the refugees to the border with Austria.
Tuhy said another Czech police team is to go to the border in March as Slovenia was interested in the extension of the police mission.
Slovenia is in the centre of the so-called West Balkan route that is used by a big part of the refugees coming to Europe. Nearly half a million migrants have moved through Slovenia since the beginning of the migrant crisis. This is also why Slovenian politicians clearly supported the redistribution of refugees across EU member states, unlike Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
