Czech police will not deal with case of Czech woman stabbed to death in Egypt

Prague, Sept 10 (CTK) – The Czech police will not deal with the case of a Czech female tourist stabbed to death in Hurghada, Egypt, and they have shelved it due to the lack of information enabling to launch prosecution in Czechia, Marek Bodlak, from the Prague High State Attorney’s Office (VSZ), has told CTK.

The 36-year-old Czech woman died in July 2017 after she and other tourists were attacked by an Egyptian national on a hotel beach. The assailant killed two German women on the spot and stabbed another four foreign women. The Czech tourist succumbed to severe injuries in hospital several days later.

An enquiry into the case was conducted by the Czech police Centre Against Organised Crime (NCOZ), which did not comment on it, however.

The VSZ has now reserved the right to release information about the case, announcing that the police shelved it in August.

In similar cases, the police would launch the prosecution if the reasons for the case shelving cease to exist.

Shortly after the attack, the Egyptian investigators said the perpetrator had been in contact with the Islamic State terrorist group. Later, however, the local authorities said the man suffered from a brain dysfunction and was probably not accountable for his act.

The same information was received by the Czech Foreign Ministry some time ago.

One month after the attack, the then Czech ambassador to Egypt, Veronika Kuchynova-Smigolova, said the Egyptian side has taken an accommodating approach to Czech representatives but has been delaying the conclusion of the investigation. The confirmation by Cairo that it was an Islamist’s terrorist attack might have stemmed the inflow of tourists to Egypt, Kuchynova-Smigolova said.

Within their enquiry into the case, the NCOZ officers visited Hurghada in November 2017, but they did not comment on the trip’s result.

This July, the German press agency DPA wrote that the Egyptian assailant might not face a trial in his homeland at all. The offender is staying in a psychiatric clinic and it is still unclear whether he is sane and legally accountable, DPA wrote, citing Egyptian authorities.

rtj/dr/kva