Defender of Feri’s victims: He treated women like things! He showed unacceptable aggression before the court

“They are brave to open up their vulnerability. And they also took it away – Mr. Feri constantly publicly humiliated them, ridiculed them, intimidated them, claimed that they were giving false testimony and the like.” said their representative Hořejší about the victims.

According to her, Feri of course had the right to defend himself, but he went so far as to claim that the victims were disgraced. He repeatedly asked them questions aimed at the intimate area, which had no potential to clarify anything. The aim was to upset the victims. “The aggression he demonstrated in front of the court is unacceptable,” she said.

“I am very happy that the experience of the victims has been validated. Thus, they can better process their negative experience after facing the constant questioning of Mr. Defendant for several years,” she praised the decision even earlier. According to her, it is also a good signal for other victims that the courts treated women with respect and perceived their needs.

“Appeal denied,” that was the words of judge Libor Vávra. According to him, the District Court for Prague 3 did not make a mistake in the original judgment and properly explained its decision. “It was certainly not a violent crime in the sense of physical aggression,” Vávra admitted yesterday.

Nevertheless, according to him, it was enough that the former political comet abused her position and the defenselessness of the girls. The judge thus confirmed Feri’s three years in prison for two rapes and one attempted rape. According to Vávra, the punishment is adequate. In addition, the expatriate must pay a total of 510,000 crowns to victims.

“Living in a state of law means respecting even those judgments with which we fundamentally disagree,” Feri said after the verdict. He still appeals to the Supreme Court, but this does not have a suspensory effect.

Three incidents

According to the judgment of the courts, Feri committed three acts. According to the indictment, the two happened in 2016 in his apartment in Prague 3. According to the verdict, Feri kissed and touched two girls despite their disagreement and then performed various sexual practices with them.

One of them was 17 years old at the time. According to the court, the third incident happened in 2018, when Feri invited a woman to the House of Representatives because of a job offer as an intern. He then tried to kiss and touch her, but she managed to leave. According to the indictment, it was »only« an attempted rape. Feri admitted that he had sexual relations with two girls. But according to him, it was consensual.

Rude to theatrical

Yesterday, Feri’s defense requested either the annulment of the original sentence or a new assessment of the case. The public prosecutor’s office, on the other hand, wanted higher compensation. The ambassador’s speech lasted about an hour and a half. Feri again questioned the statements of all the girls, pointing out inconsistencies in their statements.

“There are gaps that are very unbelievable,” he said of one of the victims. According to public prosecutor Aleš Cimbala, the defense did not offer anything new to support its arguments. In addition, he described Feri’s statements as indecent and even theatrical. And read the exposition zero self-reflection.

“I am very surprised that I am accused of a lack of self-reflection. I can’t apologize for something that never happened,” Feri responded.