Prague, Aug 24 (CTK) – A district court did not qualify the hanging out of red boxer shorts at Prague Castle, the Czech president’s seat, by the Ztohoven artistic group as a crime on Wednesday and it sent the case to the Prague 1 Town Hall to deal with it as a suspected misdemeanour.
The artists thereby committed neither a theft nor rioting, judge Sarky Santorova said.
The state attorney filed a complaint on the spot, so the Municipal Court will deal with the case.
In reaction to it, Jiri Ovcacek, spokesman for President Milos Zeman, wrote to CTK the verdict told the public that state symbols can be defamed without punishment.
Artists Filip Crhak, Matej Hajek and David Hons were charged with theft, rioting, and harming a thing of another for which they faced up to three years in prison if convicted.
The Ztohoven members, disguised as chimney sweepers, hung out giant red boxer shorts on the roof of Prague Castle instead of the presidential flag on September 19, 2015, in protest against Zeman’s behaviour in office.
The group released a video on Facebook saying “the proper flag of a man who is not ashamed of anything finally flies above Prague Castle.” They particularly criticised Zeman for siding with dictatorial regimes, such as China and Russia, and his vulgar language.
Later, they announced they had cut the original presidential flag, the value of which was put at 33,000 crowns, into pieces and distributed them among people.
According to the indictment, the artists damaged the castle roof and they should also pay for the stolen flag. Prague Castle demands 88,000 crowns in compensation for material damage incurred and 310,000 crowns for non material damage.
State attorney Zuzana Banova proposed suspended sentences for the defendants.
However, Santorova said it was not proven that the artists had damaged the roof.
“As far as the flag is concerned, the defendants confessed they had removed and thrown it down. However, in my opinion, they did not intend to enrich themselves, steal anything or cause damage to anyone,” Santorova added.
Their defence counsel Marek Pokorny argued that their act was no crime, but manifestation of freedom of expression.
In his final speech, Hons said he would accept any punishment imposed on him by the court. “This is part of the story,” he said.
Crhak reiterated that he and his accomplices would cover the proven damage, but he called the estimated level disproportionate.
