Foreigner sentenced to 18 years for murder in Zlín region, court orders deportation
A 22-year-old citizen of the Republic of Moldova will serve an 18-year sentence for a murder committed last year in Zubří. The court also imposed a ten-year ban on his residence in the Czech Republic.
Foreigner sentenced to 18 years for murder in Zlín region, court orders deportation
The Olomouc panel of the Regional Court in Ostrava sentenced a young man from the Republic of Moldova to 18 years in prison on Thursday. The sentence was imposed for a murder last year in Zubří in the Zlín region. The judgment is not yet final, and the convicted man has reserved the right to appeal.
The 23-year-old foreigner, who does not have permanent residence status on Czech territory, was found guilty of killing a man who employed him without a proper contract. Additionally, the court examined other unlawful conduct – theft of property, unauthorised use of third-party payment cards and their falsification. In addition to the sentence of imprisonment, he was ordered deported for ten years. He must pay non-pecuniary damages to the deceased's family exceeding three million crowns.
The defendant admitted to the killing before the court. However, he claimed that it was a reaction to an attack by the victim. "He began to physically attack me, I don't know why. I was lying in bed sleeping when he began to strangle me. That's how it all started," he described his account of events. He denied the theft charge and attributed guilt to his fellow countryman, with whom he later left the scene.
According to the prosecutor, the violent incident occurred on 13 November last year in a residential space where both men lived together with other tenants. The attack was extremely brutal and targeted primarily the victim's head and neck area.
The state prosecutor described how the defendant kicked his victim, stamped on his head, smashed his head against the floor and strangled him. The victim suffered devastating injuries and died at the scene. The cause of death was asphyxiation. The prosecutor emphasised that the attacker must have been aware of the fatal consequence given the nature and intensity of the attack.
After the violence ended, the perpetrator and an accomplice took cash, jewellery, payment cards and a personal car from the flat. The damage caused by the property crime exceeded five hundred thousand crowns. Both men got into the stolen car and headed towards the state border with the intention of driving to Moldova. However, their escape was stopped by customs officers, who detained them due to a lack of valid residence documents.
"I regret my action. I don't know how to explain it. I wish I could turn back time," the defendant said before the court. Regarding the flight after the crime, he added: "We acted chaotically, without a specific plan. We simply wanted to get as close to Moldova as possible."
Panel chair Eduard Ondrášek considered the imposed sentence appropriate given the brutality of the crime committed.
He originally faced up to twenty years in prison or even an exceptional sentence.
Source: Novinky.cz
Source: Novinky.cz