Police: Turek endorsed the burning of a Roma girl and gave a Nazi salute

Prague police have determined that MP Filip Turek (Motorists for Themselves party) is indeed the author of dozens of hateful Facebook posts that he previously tried to pass off as fake or the result of a hacking attack. According to a police resolution seen by the newspaper, investigators examined 85 posts and comments by Turek dating from 2010 to 2017.

"There is sufficient grounds to conclude that a crime was committed and that it was committed by a specific person (Filip Turek)," the police resolution states. Investigators found serious legal violations in eight of the publications, but cannot press charges for incitement to hatred or endorsement of a crime because the statute of limitations has expired.

Endorsing the burning of a child

Police paid particular attention to a 2011 comment by Turek about the burning of a two-year-old Roma girl named Natálie, who was set on fire in Vítkov — an attack that left the child with severe, lifelong injuries. "The fact that it was a Gypsy who got burned should, if anything, be considered a mitigating circumstance," Turek wrote at the time, according to the investigation.

In another post, he wrote about killings: "The old structure needs to be eliminated — killing Social Democrats and Communists isn't a crime, it's normal." According to police assessment, the post was "reinforced by a clear allusion to the murder of political opponents and the dehumanization of a Roma child," and effectively constitutes public approval of an attempted murder.

Expert findings: a consistent pattern

The investigation relied on testimony from Turek's former partner, Vojtěch Dobeš, who kept copies of the posts before they were deleted, as well as an analysis by forensic extremism expert Pavel Hlaváček. The expert studied dozens of the MP's status updates spanning six years and concluded there was a "long-term and consistent pattern of communication" — in his assessment, this was not an isolated incident but systematic, socially dangerous behavior.

According to police materials, Turek's targets included Roma people, Black people, Arabs, Mexicans, gay men, Jews, women, and various political groups. The posts included insults, dehumanization, sexualization, accusations of criminality, doubts about parental fitness, proposals for segregation, and allusions to physical violence.

Nazi salute and symbolism

Police also examined a 2015 video in which Turek, standing next to party sponsor Richard Hladík, raises his right hand after someone shouts "To the Leader of Hla-Turkistan!" Investigators concluded that the MP "was aware that he had publicly performed a Nazi salute," a gesture that has become a symbol of sympathy for Adolf Hitler and is used by the modern neo-Nazi movement.

According to the expert's findings, Turek's posts contain references to totalitarian symbolism and historical figures — Hitler, Mussolini, the NSDAP, the "Eagle's Nest," as well as Zyklon B, the gas used in genocide. These references, investigators believe, were not used for historical reflection but as "humorous, aestheticizing, or provocative elements" that trivialize ideologies of mass violence.

Reactions from Turek and the PM

In the same resolution, police rejected a complaint filed by the Motorists for Themselves party — which, on the MP's behalf, is led by Turek himself — against the outlet Deník N, which had been accused of defamation for publishing the deleted posts. A separate complaint by the party against an unknown "hacker" allegedly responsible for breaking into Turek's profile was called pointless by investigators, since they established that the MP himself was the author of the posts.

Asked about his reaction to the police findings, Turek replied tersely: "Since when do the police decide this instead of independent courts? As far as I know, there was no trial." Because of this and other scandals, President Petr Pavel had earlier refused to appoint Turek as foreign minister in Andrej Babiš's government — the MP ultimately became government commissioner for the "Green Deal" but suspended his duties following a July accident in central Prague, in which he collided with an ambulance. Prime Minister Babiš, when asked about the police findings, said he was on vacation and would comment at a press conference on August 17.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz