The court of Pragua has sentenced the fugitive Alois Polak, who fought in Ukraine as a separatist, to 21 years in prison. According to an out-of-court verdict, the man from Brno, who served as a sniper, killed at least four members of Ukrainian government units, reports Radio Prague. The prosecutor had requested a 25-year prison sentence for him. His lawyer indicated that the man is likely deceased and immediately appealed the verdict.
The Municipal Court in Prague reviewed the case for the third time, this time in Polak's absence, following the intervention of the Appellate Court. He was again found guilty of the terrorist act and participation in a terrorist group. In previous main proceedings, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison each time, but at that time, the charge did not include murder. The basis for the accusations primarily relied on Polak's status on Facebook, where he claimed to have four "checkmarks" (indicating the number of people he killed). According to the court, this was not considered sufficient evidence. Only now was this accusation supported by a statement from a military expert.
"Currently, the evidence is such that we have found Mr. Polak guilty to the fullest extent," said the chairman of the judicial panel, Gana Halupkova.
The author of the statement, Otakar Foltyne, a former head of the military police and current employee of the Military Office of Prague Castle, testified on Friday that the defendant clearly participated in combat actions on the side of the separatists at that particular time and location. His statement was based on an examination of metadata from photographs. He acknowledged that Polak, unlike other less cautious separatists, consistently adhered to operational security principles, making it very difficult but possible to determine his geolocation.
According to prosecutor Marek Bodlak, Alois Polak left Prague in December 2016 for the territory controlled by the military-organized formations of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic. He was armed and began performing combat tasks. He also actively participated in battles against Ukrainian government units as part of the so-called Republican Guard. Initially, he was a sniper, later becoming a squad leader.
