Czech court jails father and son for exploiting homeless workers

A court in the Czech Republic has sentenced a father named Bradáč to seven years in prison and his son to six. They hired homeless people with promises of housing and wages, but in reality kept them as servants, humiliated them and beat them. There were five victims, the court said.

Work for food and cigarettes

The victims worked at the defendants’ homes, in hostels and at the “Happy Land” children’s amusement park in Radvanovice, in the Turnov area. They were paid in food and a place to sleep; they received money only occasionally, and at times were “rewarded” with cigarettes.

They looked after the family’s house, cleaned a pond and a dog kennel, worked in several hostels, operated fairground rides and sold mulled wine. The only woman among the five was expected to wait on the family even during New Year’s celebrations.

Judge Petr Mrákota noted that the workers were recruited at the main railway station, where desperate people often end up. “They were promised work, housing, food and a salary. The result is a sad one,” he said.

Humiliation and beatings

According to the court’s findings, the food was inadequate, and the people had to sleep in unsuitable shelter. The defendants verbally humiliated the workers, and the elder Bradáč also beat them; one of the victims had a broken jaw. The judge also cited a case in which a man was punched for refusing to hand a kitten to a child from the family.

The court named 50-year-old Bradáč senior as the organizer of it all. The son’s sentence was reduced by a year, partly because he followed his father’s instructions and committed some of the offenses while still a minor. The judge did not find credible the defense of the accused, who claimed that the victims simply did not want to work.

Fines and a business ban

In addition to prison terms, each of the convicted men was fined 1.5 million crowns. Together they must pay the five victims compensation for damages of more than a million crowns. They have also been banned for five years from doing business in catering, hospitality, retail and wholesale trade, and operating fairground rides.

The verdict was heard by the large family of both convicts, who filled almost all of the public seats.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz