The rape victim, for whom the stepfather received a suspended sentence, appealed to the Constitutional Court

The victim of repeated rape, for which her stepfather received a suspended sentence, appealed to the Constitutional Court. She filed the complaint from the position of the victim, for example, she claims the right to an effective investigation, points to interference with the right to protect human dignity or the right to participate in the proceedings. ČTK was told by the spokeswoman of the Constitutional Court, Kamila Abbasi. The ruling has sparked criticism and protests in recent months. The representative of the victim announced that he would file a complaint.

The case concerns a man convicted of rape and the production of child pornography. The stepfather filmed the minor girl during intimate intercourse, then forced her to have sex five times a week for almost a year and a half. He pleaded guilty before the District Court in Vyškov, so the Regional Court in Brno only reviewed the sentence. He suspended the originally imposed three-year prison sentence for five years.

The judgment is final. The Supreme Prosecutor Igor Stříž said that the legislation does not give him the possibility to appeal to the Supreme Court. Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek (ODS) filed a complaint for violation of the law, which is also being dealt with by the Supreme Court. In the given procedural situation, however, he cannot cancel the judgment, his eventual statement would have only an academic nature.

The girl’s representative, Marcel Jurčaga, recently told Seznam Zprávám that his client welcomed the complaint of the Minister of Justice. In addition, he announced a constitutional complaint.

“It is an untrodden path. The pitfall lies primarily in the fact that the Constitutional Court is essentially reserved about interfering in the punishment of the offender to his detriment,” Jurčaga told Seznam Zprávám. However, he relies on two recent decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, from which, according to him, it follows that symbolic punishments should not be imposed in the case of this criminal activity.