Brno court to hear appeal over robbery of Ukrainian teenagers

An appeals court in Brno is hearing the case of three young Ukrainians who beat and robbed two Ukrainian teenagers outside a club in the city centre at night, taunting them over their origin, while one of the attackers threatened a victim with a knife.

Beaten and robbed outside a club

According to the prosecution, the three defendants attacked the two teenagers together at night, first insulting them over their Ukrainian origin and then repeatedly punching and kicking them. Under threat of further violence, they forced the victims to hand over their belongings, cash, a mobile phone and their documents.

The attackers then put the victims in a taxi and drove them to a hostel. One of the teenagers had to go find 70,000 crowns, while the other stayed with the attackers, who kept beating him and threatening more violence. To underline their demand, one of the robbers even pulled out a knife and threatened to cut off the boy’s fingers. Only a city police patrol managed to stop the ordeal.

Verdict and appeal

The Brno Municipal Court found Vasyl Kovach, the most active participant in the attack, guilty of robbery, extortion and disorderly conduct and sentenced him to four years in prison. Vasyl Rusyn and Andriy Struk each received three and a half years.

The convicted men, aged 19 to 23, appealed the verdict, so the case is now being reviewed by the Brno Regional Court as an appellate body. Kovach’s lawyer argued that the court had not sufficiently weighed the circumstances in his client’s favour: he had no previous convictions, admitted guilt, sent letters of apology to the victims and paid compensation for the damage. According to the defence, Kovach is the father of a small child and has already spent more than five months in custody, so a suspended sentence would be enough for his rehabilitation.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz