‘They try to break us’: Pro-Palestine activists in Czech custody

As a group is accused of an attack on a weapons factory, activists allege a growing crackdown on the solidarity movement.

Youssef Moursi, 25, believes he has been targeted for his pro-Palestine activism [Courtesy of Youssef Moursi]

Prague, Czech Republic – Youssef Moursi, a 25-year-old Egyptian university student and activist in Prague, has spent the last six months in pre-trial detention, accused of an arson attack in March against a Czech weapons factory with alleged ties to Israel.

Moursi is one of 11 people being charged with “terrorism” for the attack and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The case has echoes of legal battles in the United Kingdom , where Palestine Action activists have been sentenced under terrorism laws, and Germany , where five people accused of targeting a site linked to Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons maker, are on trial.

Moursi, a humanities student at Charles University, said in a statement to Al Jazeera that “a group of armed and masked policemen smashed down [my] front door”, two days after the alleged attack, in which he denies any involvement.

He spent the first three months of his detention in solitary confinement, according to his lawyer. Today, he is allowed one hour outside his cell and 20 minutes on the phone a day, with visits from friends and family every two weeks.

“[There] is the psychological front being waged against us, where [the police] deliberately try to break us by putting some of us in solitary confinement for months, denying us visits, blocking correspondence, or spreading fear,” Moursi said. “Putting people in custody and prolonging it time and time again without direct evidence, mainly based on a mix of inclinations, activism, racism, and an attempted blurring of freedom of speech, is unacceptable.”

Moursi and his lawyer, Pavel Cizinsky, believe he has been targeted because of his involvement in pro-Palestine activism in Prague.

Cizinsky said part of the evidence police have against Moursi is that on the day after the fire, he posted advice for pro-Palestinian activists on social media, should they be approached by officers. Cizinsky called this “ridiculous.”

“If you put into Google what to do when interviewed by the police, the first advice is wait for your lawyer. But if you say it as a pro-Palestinian activist, if you write it to your friends, then it’s reason against you that you are guilty,” Cizinsky said.

At the beginning of the investigation, Cizinsky said he faced pressure from the authorities not to take the case. As a result, he was not present during the initial interrogation and house raid on Moursi’s flat.

“It is clear that there is extraordinary attention to this investigation by the police, and really great resources dedicated to this case,” Cizinsky said. “But the fact that he is already five months in prison is surely a breach of law.”

Under Czech law, individuals held in pre-trial detention who have not been convicted must have their detention reviewed by a court every three months. Moursi’s detention has so far been reviewed twice, with the court deciding each time that he must stay in prison.

His detention will be reviewed again in early December, and the trial is expected to start within a year.

The fire broke out in the early hours of March 20 at LPP Holding, a Czech weapons factory in Pardubice, about 120km (75 miles) east of Prague.

No one was injured but police said the building was destroyed, with damage estimates reaching hundreds of millions of crowns, or at least four million euros.

A previously unknown pro-Palestinian group called The Earthquake Faction claimed responsibility and posted videos of the fire, saying it targeted LPP Holding for its cooperation with Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons company.

In 2023, LPP Holding and Elbit Systems announced a partnership to build drones in the Czech Republic. But on the day of the fire, an LPP Holding spokesperson told Czech media the collaboration never happened.

The fire inside LPP Holding after the alleged arson attack [Courtesy of The Earthquake Faction]

In the weeks following the attack, police launched a manhunt and arrested several foreign nationals including Ukrainian, Czech, Slovak, Polish and American citizens. Of the 10 other individuals accused, three are under house arrest in Poland and seven remain behind bars in the Czech Republic.

Over the past two years, Elbit Systems has become a primary target for pro-Palestine activists across Europe.

In June, a UK court convicted four imprisoned Palestine Action members of criminal damage with a “terrorist connection” after a raid on an Elbit Systems factory in Filton, near Bristol. In September last year, police in Poland arrested protesters at an arms fair for throwing red liquid over an Elbit Systems stand. This week, an elderly man in Germany was arrested after protesting against the Israeli weapons giant.

In Prague, the atmosphere for pro-Palestinian activists has grown increasingly tense.

A collective called Prague 4 Palestine Youth stopped organising demonstrations and charity events after police investigations into dozens of its members in the months following the arson attack.

Rue, a 25-year-old Czech activist who requested anonymity, said that friends of those detained in the arson case and fellow activists are being subjected to interrogations, house raids, and indefinite confiscations of their devices as the investigation continues.

Nine days after the fire, Rue said, “[The police] interrogated us, and then they took us back to [our] apartment where they did a search of the house. They kept us awake for more than 24 hours. I was having panic attacks for a week straight after it happened.”

An October 10 protest in Prague calling for an end to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza [Isabella Fattore/Al Jazeera]

After the interrogation and house search, Rue was told they were being treated as a witness to the arson attack. The police confiscated their phone and computer, which have not been returned.

Rue believes they were investigated because of their friendship with suspects in the arson case. They have visited two in prison; one is in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, Rue said.

“When it comes to the end of the visit, the tears come,” Rue added. “You’re free to go anywhere and do anything, and they go back to being in those four walls.”

The individuals detained in the Czech Republic could remain in prison for up to four years without being convicted, according to their lawyers.

Police confirmed they have arrested and charged suspects of several different nationalities and remanded them in custody.

“Given the gravity of the case and the ongoing investigation into terrorism-related offences, the supervising public prosecutor’s office has assumed exclusive authority to release information,” the police said.

一个团体被指控袭击一家武器工厂，与此同时，活动人士声称，声援运动正遭到日益严厉的镇压。

25岁的优素福·穆尔西认为，他因为支持巴勒斯坦的活动而成为攻击目标。[图片由优素福·穆尔西提供]

捷克共和国布拉格——25岁的埃及大学生兼活动家优素福·穆尔西在布拉格被拘留了六个月，他被指控于3月份纵火袭击了一家据称与以色列有关联的捷克武器工厂。

穆尔西是因这次袭击而被控“恐怖主义”的 11 人之一，如果罪名成立，他可能面临最高 20 年的监禁。

该案与英国的法律斗争有相似之处，在英国，巴勒斯坦行动组织的活动人士因违反恐怖主义法而被判刑；在德国，五名被控袭击与以色列最大的武器制造商埃尔比特系统公司有关联的地点的人正在接受审判。

查理大学人文系学生穆尔西在向半岛电视台发表的一份声明中表示，“一群武装蒙面警察砸开了[我]的前门”，而就在两天前，他否认自己参与了这起袭击事件。

据他的律师称，他被拘留的前三个月一直被单独监禁。如今，他每天可以外出活动一小时，打电话二十分钟，每两周可以与亲友见面一次。

穆尔西说：“警方正对我们发起心理战，他们故意将我们中的一些人单独监禁数月，禁止探视，封锁通信，散布恐惧，试图击垮我们。在没有直接证据的情况下，仅仅基于个人倾向、激进主义、种族主义以及试图模糊言论自由等因素，就将人拘留并一再延长拘留时间，这是不可接受的。”

穆尔西和他的律师帕维尔·齐津斯基认为，他之所以成为目标，是因为他参与了在布拉格的亲巴勒斯坦活动。

西津斯基表示，警方掌握的针对穆尔西的部分证据是，在火灾发生后的第二天，他在社交媒体上发布了一些建议，指导亲巴勒斯坦活动人士如果被警察盘问该如何应对。西津斯基称这种做法“荒谬至极”。

“如果你在谷歌上搜索‘被警察讯问时该怎么办’，第一个建议就是等待你的律师。但如果你作为一名亲巴勒斯坦活动人士，把这些话写给你的朋友，那么这些话就成了你有罪的证据，”西津斯基说。

调查初期，西津斯基表示他曾受到当局施压，要求他不要接手此案。因此，他没有出席对穆尔西公寓的首次审讯和搜查。

“很明显，警方对这起案件的调查给予了极大的重视，并投入了大量资源，”西津斯基说。“但他已被监禁五个月，这显然是违法行为。”

根据捷克法律，被审前羁押但尚未定罪的人，其羁押情况必须每三个月由法院进行一次审查。穆尔西的羁押情况迄今已审查过两次，但法院每次都裁定他必须继续被关押。

他的拘留情况将于 12 月初再次接受审查，预计审判将在一年内开始。

3 月 20 日凌晨，位于布拉格以东约 120 公里（75 英里）的帕尔杜比采的捷克武器工厂 LPP Holding 发生火灾。

虽然无人受伤，但警方表示该建筑物已被摧毁，损失估计达数亿克朗，或至少400万欧元。

一个此前不为人知的亲巴勒斯坦组织“地震派”声称对火灾负责，并发布了火灾视频，称其袭击目标是LPP控股公司，因为该公司与以色列武​​器公司埃尔比特系统公司有合作。

2023年，LPP控股公司和埃尔比特系统公司宣布合作在捷克共和国生产无人机。但在火灾当天，LPP控股公司的一位发言人告诉捷克媒体，这项合作从未发生过。

LPP控股公司在疑似纵火袭击后发生火灾 [图片由地震派提供]

袭击发生后的几周内，警方展开搜捕行动，逮捕了数名外国公民，其中包括乌克兰、捷克、斯洛伐克、波兰和美国公民。其他10名被告中，3人目前在波兰被软禁，7人仍被关押在捷克共和国的监狱中。

过去两年，埃尔比特系统公司已成为欧洲各地亲巴勒斯坦活动人士的主要攻击目标。

今年6月，英国一家法院以“与恐怖主义有关联”的刑事毁坏罪名，判处四名被监禁的巴勒斯坦行动组织成员有罪。此前，他们袭击了位于布里斯托尔附近菲尔顿的埃尔比特系统公司工厂。去年9月，波兰警方逮捕了在武器展上向埃尔比特系统公司展位泼洒红色液体的抗议者。本周，一名德国老人因抗议这家以色列武器巨头而被捕。

在布拉格，亲巴勒斯坦活动人士的处境日益紧张。

在纵火袭击事件发生后的几个月里，警方对一个名为“布拉格支持巴勒斯坦青年”的团体的数十名成员展开调查，该团体随后停止组织示威活动和慈善活动。

25 岁的捷克活动人士 Rue 要求匿名，他表示，纵火案中被拘留者的朋友和活动人士同伴正遭受审讯、房屋搜查和设备无限期没收，而调查仍在继续。

火灾发生九天后，鲁说：“（警察）审问了我们，然后把我们带回公寓，搜查了房子。他们让我们超过24小时没合眼。事发后，我整整一个星期都饱受恐慌症的折磨。”

10 月 10 日布拉格举行的抗议活动呼吁结束以色列对加沙的种族灭绝战争 [Isabella Fattore/半岛电视台]

审讯和搜查房屋后，鲁伊被告知他们被视为纵火案的证人。警方没收了他们的手机和电脑，至今仍未归还。

Rue认为他们之所以被调查，是因为他们与纵火案嫌疑人有交情。Rue说，他们曾探望过两名狱中的嫌疑人；其中一人每天被单独监禁23小时。

“每次探访结束，眼泪都会涌上眼眶，”鲁补充道。“你可以自由自在地去任何地方，做任何事，而他们又要回到那四面墙内。”

据他们的律师称，在捷克共和国被拘留的人可能在未经定罪的情况下被关押长达四年。

警方证实，他们已逮捕并指控了多名不同国籍的嫌疑人，并将他们还押候审。

警方表示：“鉴于案件的严重性以及对恐怖主义相关犯罪的持续调查，主管检察官办公室已获得发布信息的专属权力。”