Court punishes young man with suspended sentence for threats to classmates and praise of university shooting
A twenty-year-old student received a five-month suspended sentence for threatening classmates and praising the attacker from Prague's Faculty of Philosophy.
Court punishes young man with suspended sentence for threats to classmates and praise of university shooting
The District Court for Prague 8 found twenty-year-old Ondřej Zoul guilty of dangerous threatening and approval of a criminal offence. The young man received a five-month sentence suspended for a period of twenty months' probation. He must submit to supervision by a probation officer and undergo psychological consultations. He filed an immediate appeal against the decision.
The chair of the court panel, Jiřina Zemanová, concluded that the facts were sufficiently proven by witness testimony. Originally, the charges carried a potential sentence of up to three years in prison, but the court took into account that the defendant had no previous criminal record.
According to the indictment, a student at a Prague secondary school regularly brought various items to lessons between September 2022 and September 2024 that could be used as weapons – including a telescopic baton, cold weapons and defensive spray. He repeatedly told classmates that he would massacre the class and made insulting and hateful remarks towards them.
The second count of the indictment relates to events following the deadly incident at the Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University. Zoul allegedly stated at that time that the death toll was too low, and that he would have carried out such an act more efficiently.
In court, the young man defended himself by saying it was inappropriate joking. He stated that his humour could have been misunderstood by some. He admitted carrying a knife and a baton, but justified it by saying he was concerned for his own safety during late-night journeys from work.
In his closing remarks, he expressed regret about how the matter had developed. He denied that he had made direct threats to anyone either in person or via electronic communication. He also denied that he admired or supported the attacker from the faculty.
His defence counsel pointed out that a group of female classmates allegedly systematically provoked her client. According to her, his reactions were not a criminal offence but merely inappropriate behaviour. She added that due to massive publicity surrounding the case, the young man had to seek professional psychological help.
Source: Novinky.cz
Source: Novinky.cz