Court Orders Minister Turek to Apologize to Hnutí DUHA Environmental Activists

A Czech court has ordered Environment Minister Petr Turek to publicly apologize to the environmental movement Hnutí DUHA for insulting remarks he posted on Facebook. Czech public television reported the ruling on Monday morning.

In late April, Turek wrote on social media that the movement's activists could be called "parasites who need to be exterminated," accusing them of "sucking money" from taxpayers through non-governmental organizations that hide behind ministries, thereby hampering the work of civil servants. The minister later tried to clarify that he had not meant all ministry employees, but specifically the activists.

Accusations of causing deaths

Turek also linked the movement to deaths during floods, claiming that activists had allegedly obstructed the construction of a dam. As deputy chairman of the board of the State Environmental Fund, he also threatened to cut off the organization's subsidies.

Hnutí DUHA director Zuzana Lengartová countered in June that the movement could not possibly have physically obstructed construction of the Nové Heřminovy dam, since neither the law nor administrative procedure would allow it. According to her, the real problem lies in the state's extremely slow project preparation — for instance, the expropriation of land from the last remaining private owners only began this past February.

Another politician also called it a "terrorist organization"

Similar remarks were made by politician Macinka, who said it would "not be much of an exaggeration" to call the movement a terrorist organization, adding that he would be disappointed if it continued to receive taxpayer funding. It has not yet been reported how the court ruled in his case.

Hnutí DUHA immediately demanded an apology and sent both politicians a pre-litigation warning. When Turek's legal representative stated that his client had no intention of apologizing, the movement filed a lawsuit. "We see filing this lawsuit as our duty. We cannot allow the rhetoric used by these politicians to become the norm," the movement said on its Facebook page in late June.

Source: novinky.cz