Supreme Court rejects ex-MP Jaroslav Staník’s appeal on hate speech verdict

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Jaroslav Staník, an ex-secretary and MP of the far-right opposition Freedom and Direct Democracy party, to overturn a guilty verdict for inciting hatred, among other charges.

In October 2017, when still an MP, Staník said in a parliament restaurant that Jews, Romani people and homosexuals to be shot at birth or gassed, witnesses said. They said he was drunk at the time.

Staník was charged in 2018 with fomenting hatred towards a group of people, infringing upon their rights and freedoms, and denying the Holocaust while calling for genocide. He faced up to 3 years in prison but received a 1-year suspended sentence.