Two Czech men face up to 15 years in prison for online approval of Christchurch terror attack

Prague, April 20 (CTK) – The Prague Municipal Court has received charges of terrorism support brought against two Czech men for their approval of the terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, court spokeswoman Marketa Puci told CTK today.

The men face up to 15 years in prison for support and promotion of terrorism on publicly accessible computer networks.

The state attorney charged a man from Novy Jicin, north Moravia, debating the terror act on the drsnysvet.cz (hard world) server, and another man from Vsetin, south Moravia, who added his comment on an article on the Novinky.cz server.

Australian rightist extremist Brenton Tarrant, 29, shot dead some 50 men, women and children in an attack on two mosques in Christchurch that he broadcast live on the Internet. He was charged with mass murder, attempt at murdering further 40 people and terrorism, for which he faces life sentence. He first denied the charge, but he unexpectedly confessed last month.

Shortly after the attack, Czech police announced they were looking into whether some people had committed the approval of this crime, mainly on the Internet and social media. Both Interior Minister Jan Hamacek (Social Democrats, CSSD) and Police President Jan Svejdar called any incitement to hatred unacceptable then.

Detectives have proposed charges in five cases so far, according to the latest data.

Tarrant was inspired by Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik who murdered 77 people in the summer of 2011. At first, he detonated an explosion near a government building in Oslo and then he shot dead participants in a summer camp of the Social Democrat youth on the nearby Utoya Island.

The Prague High State Attorney’s Office recently brought support for terrorism charges against a man for approving of Breivik’s attacks.

Two men praising the death of three Czech soldiers killed in Afghanistan also face charges of terrorism support.