Prague, April 26 (CTK) – The Prague 1 court meted out eight-month suspended sentences and five-year expulsions from the country to three Dutch men for rioting in connection with the violent attack on a waiter in a Prague pub on Saturday, state attorneys Jan Lelek and Tomas Jarolimek told journalists on Thursday.
The foreigners have accepted the decision, which has taken effect.
They must leave the Czech Republic within five days.
The same court remanded into custody the two main suspects who are also facing the charges of serious bodily harm. They may be given up to ten years in prison.
Lelek said the men were remanded into custody for fear that they might escape. In the case of one of them, the court found there was another reason, he might repeat the criminal activity, he added.
“Both defendants said in their testimonies they were sorry for the incident. They said they felt shame and were ready to provide financial aid to the injured man,” Lelek said.
The case is at the beginning of investigation. The police will question the witnesses of the case and an expert report on the injury of the waiter has to be drawn up, Lelek said.
Lelek said the investigation into the incident might take some two months.
The police detained the seven Dutch men aged 24-32 at the Prague airport on Monday evening. Charges were brought against five of them one day later and the remaining two were released as they may have tried to calm down the conflict.
The incident occurred at the Quadrio shopping mall.
The waiter told the group they cannot drink alcohol they brought to the restaurant’s outdoor premises. The men responded with a violent attack on him, knocking him down, beating him with fists and kicking him. After he stayed on the ground helplessly, they escaped from the scene.
The waiter ended up at an intensive care unit in a very serious condition and has undergone a head surgery.
The police detained the seven Dutchmen at the Prague airport on Monday evening. One day later, they brought charges against five of them and released the remaining two as they tended to calm down the conflict.
The Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad wrote on its website that the seven men arrived in Prague to celebrate the forthcoming wedding of one of them. The two main suspects were brothers, one of whom owns a fitness centre, the paper writes.
One of the men works with the Amsterdam police. All the men have a clean criminal record.
