Constitutional Court quashes detention decision on Jiřikovský, who remains behind bars
The Constitutional Court has quashed the regional court's decision on the detention of Tomáš Jiřikovský from the bitcoin case due to a breach of his rights. Jiřikovský nonetheless remains in detention, facing up to 30 years in prison.
Constitutional Court: regional court decided on Jiřikovský's detention unconstitutionally
The Constitutional Court (ÚS) in Brno today quashed the regional court's ruling concerning the detention of Tomáš Jiřikovský, the main figure in the bitcoin case, because it violated his constitutional right to judicial protection. As reported by Google News CZ — Crime (cs), for Jiřikovský himself nothing has factually changed — he remains behind bars. He has been in detention since last August and faces up to 30 years in prison for laundering proceeds from criminal activity.
The Constitutional Court specifically addressed a complaint regarding the decision of the City Court in Brno of 11 March, when the court rejected Jiřikovský's separate application for release from detention, and the subsequent ruling of the regional court from 16 April, by which the regional court dismissed the defendant's complaint. The Constitutional Court quashed precisely this second decision today. Regarding the part concerning the city court's ruling, the constitutional complaint was rejected. The Constitutional Court did not review the grounds for the detention itself.
Reporting judge Tomáš Langášek explained the nature of the breach: "When deciding on the complainant's application for release from detention, there was a detailed statement by the state prosecutor, with which the complainant was never fully acquainted. Although he pointed out this fact, his objections were ignored. Proceedings conducted in this manner did not, in the Constitutional Court's view, meet the constitutional requirements of the right to judicial protection." The regional court must now decide again on Jiřikovský's complaint regarding the city court's ruling.
Jiřikovský's detention is by law reviewed every three months. Most recently, the City Court in Brno confirmed it in mid-April, and in May, following a complaint, the regional court also confirmed it.
The case extends beyond Jiřikovský alone. In May this year, detectives charged former Justice Minister Pavel Blažek (formerly ODS) with laundering proceeds from criminal activity and abuse of official authority, who resigned last year due to the case, his former deputy Radomír Daňhel, and Jiřikovský's lawyer Kárím Titz. For one of the accused, the investigation was subsequently expanded to include further conduct relating to money laundering. Blažek, Daňhel and Titz are being prosecuted whilst free; they face between five and twelve years in prison.
At the heart of the entire bitcoin case is the fact that then-Justice Minister Blažek accepted bitcoins worth nearly a billion crowns from Jiřikovský last March as a gift for the state. The case is being handled by the Upper State Prosecutor's Office in Olomouc. Since the end of April, prosecutors there have also been dealing with a criminal report filed by the current Justice Minister Jeroným Tejc (for ANO) in connection with the findings of an internal audit into the bitcoin case.
Source: Google News CZ — Crime (cs)