For the first time in history, a person who was responsible in the Border Guard for violent interventions against people fleeing communist Czechoslovakia will stand trial. The public prosecutor accused him of abuse of authority of an official. He proposes a condition and a monetary penalty for him. It follows from the indictment, which Aktuálně.cz has at its disposal. The main trial is scheduled for June.
Ninety-year-old Jan Muzikář was one of the two key representatives of the Border Guard for nine years. He was the deputy commander, but as chief of staff he actually managed it. The border guard was an armed component of state power under the Ministry of the Interior, its task was to guard the impermeability of the state border. She repeatedly killed people while fulfilling it.
The musician held the mentioned position from October 1980 to October 1989. At the same time, he was a member of the military council of the Main Administration of the Border Guard, which was a key collective body for its management, command and political leadership. According to the prosecutor, Muzikář is responsible for the death or injury of at least thirteen people. It follows from the indictment that the editors received.
“From the performance of his duties, he was also aware that as a result of the use of weapons or service dogs by members of the Border Guard, there were injuries and deaths of persons who tried to cross the state border,” reads one of the main arguments of the indictment drawn up by the public prosecutor Katarína Kandová.
He led the border guards to hatred
The plaintiff counted sixteen acts from which she deduced Muzikář’s responsibility for the death and injury of people fleeing communist Czechoslovakia to the West. He presented plans to the Military Council on how the Border Guard could be more effective in its service. He also evaluated its activities in annual reports.
“He consistently demanded from the members of the Border Guard subordinate to him the most efficient performance of the protection of state borders and the prevention of so-called breakthroughs (border crossings, note ed.) even at the cost of using the most extreme means against violators of state borders, which immediately threatened their health and life,” the plaintiff describes.
In April 1986, for example, Muzikář was on inspection of the 15th Brigade of the Border Guard in České Budějovice. He praised the subordinates there for unleashing pairs and trios of individually attacking dogs on fleeing citizens. In December 1987, he ordered border guards to shoot at people so that the bullets did not land on the territory of a neighboring state. He did not want to worsen mutual relations.
“He advocated the communist education of border guards with a focus on strengthening their resistance to the effects of anti-communism and leading to high vigilance, vigilance and hatred of class enemies, when he described people crossing the border because of disagreement with the regime of the time as the most dangerous,” the indictment describes.
Three people died and ten were injured
During the investigation, conducted by the Office for Documentation and Investigation of Crimes of Communism under the supervision of the District Prosecutor’s Office for Prague 1, the musician refused to testify. But he said in his complaint against the prosecution that he acted according to the laws of the time and the oath of office. He denied guilt for the shooting at the border, according to him, individual border guards should be prosecuted.
However, the indictment points out that the Border Guard’s activity was illegal even under the law of the time. She opposed the article of the constitution guaranteeing the inviolability of a person. It also did not respect the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Czechoslovakia ratified in 1975 and which came into effect a year later.
Jan Muzikář’s lawyer Jaroslav Ortman. | Photo: DVTV
State Attorney Kandová blames Muzikář for the death of three people and the serious injury of ten people. For example, on November 5, 1984, František Faktor died while trying to escape to Austria near the town of Nové Hrady after being shot by border guards, and on August 9, 1986, German citizen Hartmut Tautz died after being attacked by dogs in Bratislava while trying to get to Austria.
“The accused demanded the most effective protection of state borders, even with the use of weapons and service dogs and an immediate threat to the life and health of trespassers, due to their political beliefs and taking advantage of their distress, which can definitely be considered crossing state borders in times of non-freedom,” the indictment summarizes A musician’s actions.
“He screamed for help and they interrogated him”
According to experts, the 90-year-old Muzikář is in a psychological condition that allows him to understand the meaning of criminal proceedings. He also understands what he is accused of. The plaintiff proposes for him two years in prison, suspended for three years, and a fine of one hundred thousand crowns. Survivors and survivors are asking him for a total compensation of 1.8 million.
“In the case of Hartmut Tautz, who was torn apart by border guard dogs near Bratislava, it is about two men in their fifties. They did not give him first aid. He was shouting Hilfe, Hilfe, he was bleeding, he must have been in terrible pain, and they were interrogating him,” an activist previously described to Aktuálně.cz Neela Winkelmannová mentioned the case for which Muzikář is supposed to be responsible.
The case is handled by judge Šárka Šantorová, the main hearing at the District Court for Prague 1 will begin on June 11. The documents documenting Muzikář’s official duties within the Border Guard, his personal file or the protocols of the interrogation of the former Communist Minister of the Interior Vratislav Vajnar or, on the other hand, the injured and survivors are to be used as evidence.
“In any case, he denies guilt. I am sorry that thirty-five years after the Velvet Revolution, when he is ninety years old, he is facing this charge. The possibilities of his active defense are limited,” Muzikář’s lawyer Jaroslav Ortman told Aktuálně.cz. According to him, his client was only paying attention to compliance with the border protection laws of the time.
