The Vítkov arson attack was an arson attack that occurred in Vítkov in the Czech Republic during the night of 18 to 19 April 2009. Three Molotov cocktails were thrown through the windows of a house inhabited by a Roma family. Three people were injured. The most seriously injured was a three-year-old girl named Natálie, who suffered life-threatening burns on 80% of her body.
Attack
18 April 2009 21:30 The attackers drove in a car past the house inhabited by the victims. ~ 23:00 The perpetrators prepared their Molotov cocktails in an unidentified isolated location, not far from the target house. They used 0.7 and 1 litre alcoholic drink bottles, which they filled 3/4 up with gasoline and plugged with fabric. ~ 23:45 The perpetrators stopped their car near the house. Three of them had by this time covered their faces and had put on gloves. (Allegedly their leader Jaromír Lukeš, who was driving, had not covered his face). David Vaculík, Ivo Müller and Václav Cojocaru, each carrying one Molotov cocktail ran up to the house and each threw a bottle through a different window, instantly setting fire to virtually the entire interior of the house.
Victims The most severely injured of the victims was Natálie Kudriková, aged 3, who suffered second- and third-degree burns over 80% of her body, and lost two of her fingers at the time of the attack. Later a third finger had to be surgically removed. She would probably never be able to grasp objects with her right hand, which was burned more severely than the left. According to expert witness Igor Dvořáček, the many long-lasting anaesthesia doses necessary for her treatment have also caused minor mental retardation. The head of Vinohrady Hospital in Prague Burn Trauma Centre, Ludomír Brož, testified that burns sixteen times less extensive than those suffered by Natálie can threaten a child's life. She spent three months in an induced coma and a further five months in the hospital, during which time she underwent numerous plastic surgery operations, 20 of them being major ones. During the treatment she almost died three times, surviving only thanks to medical apparatus. She is the first child with such extensive burn wounds to have survived in the Czech Republic. In 2009 alone, the insurance company paid over 6 million CZK (about US$340,000) for Natálie's treatment. The insurance company will recover the debt from the convicted perpetrators if they have the money, but their ability to pay such an amount is currently next to null.
Natálie's mother, Anna Siváková, aged 27, suffered burns on 30% of her body. She spent 10 days at the intensive-care unit of the University Faculty Hospital in Ostrava, and was released from hospital after three weeks. The defense challenged her testimony because when she testified in court she was under medication. The attackers' lawyers also made much of her own extensive criminal history. She had been convicted eight times.
Siváková's partner, Pavel Kudrik, aged 33, suffered burns on his hands and back. He was released from hospital after 11 days. Initially treated in Opava, he was transferred to a different hospital after police found out that Kudrik was himself "on the run" and should have been behind bars at the time of the attack. His most recent conviction was for driving without a license. Kudrik's criminal history included 14 convictions. After spending three days in prison, Kudrik was released on the President's order, later receiving a full Presidential pardon.
Siváková's mother, Vlasta Malá, was also living in the house. She did not suffer any injuries. After the attack she claimed that she had heard shouts of "Burn gypsies!" The defense challenged her testimony, citing differences between what she had told the investigators and what she testified at the court. Malá reacted by saying "Why should such details matter? They burned us!" However, Malá's own record included four criminal convictions, one of them for an assault on a public official.
Václav Malý, Malá's husband, was also living in the house. Malý was not injured, but he claimed damages for a very wide variety of consumer electronics he had stored in the house. The defense challenged this and asserted that the house was being used to store stolen goods, which Malý denied. Malý had been convicted 12 times.
Vlasta and Václav Malý helped three children, who were living in the house with Siváková, to escape the fire. Neither the Malýs nor the three children were hurt in the attack. Investigation
19 April 2009 The investigation began. One of the victims claimed that she had heard someone calling out "Burn gypsies!" Senior politicians, including the Czech prime minister and president, condemned the act, placing it in the context of a more general growth of extremist groups. A special team of fifteen detectives was set up to head up the police investigation. There were three initial working hypotheses: a racially motivated attack, an attack by a money lender to whom the victims were in debt, or a personally motivated revenge attack. Before the attack, one of the perpetrators called a friend, who was at a discothèque. Asked about the call by her companion, the girl answered, "He said they are going on gypsies." A volunteer fireman, who was near the two young women in the discothèque overheard the conversation. On the next day he made the connection between the conversation and the arson attack, and contacted the police. The discothèque witness later faced death threats from right-wing extremists, as a result of which he refused to testify in court. However the lead was crucial, because investigators were able to identify and tap suspects' telephones, and so start uncovering the background to the attack. The police made no public reference to this lead. Officially they maintained that they had no direct leads, but were following up on the suspicion that the attack might be part of wider campaign of violence orchestrated by leaders of the Czech extreme right, and not an isolated incident. The fireman's contribution would be revealed only after the end of the investigation. The Internal Security Agency provided the police investigators with relevant information very quickly after the attack; as the investigation continued this unusual level of cooperation was maintained. The Agency's annual reports had routinely been flagging up right wing extremist groups as a danger to national security, which explained its long-term close interest in them. 30 April 2009 The Czech police chief stated his firm belief that the perpetrators would be identified within a month. He also announced that for the police it was a matter of honour to find the perpetrators. 13 May 2009 The police stated they were optimistic about finding the perpetrators of the attack. They were looking for a dark coloured car which had been seen at the scene of the attack. Meanwhile, it was made public that the attack had involved the throwing of three Molotov cocktails. 27 May 2009 As many as 500 people had by now been questioned about the arson attack. The police found the dark coloured car, but they reported that this had been a blind lead. Meanwhile, the police let it be known that they were examining the theory that the attack had been an act of revenge, after an incident two months before the attack in which a car had hit a pedestrian in front of the house. The pedestrian had died. However, this later turned out to be an unrelated incident. While interviewing one of the suspects (without revealing any exceptional interest in him), police installed a listening device in his car. Later, as the evident lack of police progress caused the suspects to relax, the tapping of this car would prove vital in solving the case. 15 July 2009 Although the police had now questioned about 600 people, they reported that there had been no leads. The police also stated that they were following up on the possibility that the arson attack had been a random criminal offence. 28 July 2009 A police spokesman announced that the crime might remain unsolved. A newspaper report later stated that the attackers might never be identified or brought to justice. 12 August 2009 The police arrested twelve alleged extremists from Silesia and North Moravia in connection with the attack. Some of those arrested were charged the same day. 14 August 2009 The police charged four of the twelve arrested with attempted homicide. The other eight were released. 25 January 2010 The police investigation was formally closed, and the files handed over to the public prosecutor's office. 25 February 2010 The accused were indicted on charges of attempted multiple homicide and of damage to property. If convicted, they could receive lengthy prison terms. 5 October 2010 In her closing submission the prosecutor requested that three of the accused should each receive an "exceptional penalty", reflecting the aggravated nature of the offences alleged. For the fourth accused she requested a term of imprisonment based on the general range of terms for a murder conviction.The standard length of attempted aggravated murder was twelve to fifteen years of imprisonment, see §219 art. 2 of Trestní zákon Col. 140/1961 (Czech) The prosecutor claimed that the accused knew very well, from their detailed planning, that the house was inhabited by numerous people, and that they knew about the ethnicity of the residents, which was the principal motive for the attack, and that they intended either to burn their victims to death or else to inflict life-threatening injuries on all of them. The prosecutor asserted that the criminal acts were committed in order to honour the upcoming birthday of Austrian-born Adolf Hitler. Specifically, the prosecutor requested that if convicted: David Vaculík may receive a jail term in the higher half of the "exceptional penalty" band (20–25 years), because he was believed to have masterminded the attack and has shown no remorse for the act. Jaromír Lukeš may receive a jail term of slightly less than half of the maximum "exceptional penalty" (19–20 years), because he was believed to have selected the house to be attacked. Václav Cojocaru may receive a jail term in the lower half of the exceptional penalty band (15–20 years). Ivo Müller may receive a jail term slightly below the maximum of the standard penalty (14–15 years): as he had cooperated with the investigation and had apologized to the victims. He was the only member of the gang who had shown remorse. 20 October 2010 The court in Ostrava found all the defendants guilty of racially motivated attempted multiple homicide and of destroying property. The court sentenced David Vaculík, Jaromír Lukeš and Ivo Müller to 22 years of imprisonment in a maximum security prison and Václav Cojocaru to 20 years in a maximum security prison. They were also made liable, jointly and severally to pay damages in excess of 17 million CZK (about 700,000 €). Of this, 7.5 million CZK was a refund to the insurance company for medical treatment costs, 9.5 million CZK was compensation for the most seriously injured victim, Natálie, and 75,000 CZK was compensation for Natálie's parents. The defendants have all appealed against their convictions and sentences as well as against the damages.
18 March 2011 Appeal court in Olomouc reduced sentence for Ivo Müller to 20 years in maximum security prison. The decisions regarding the other perpetrators as well as the damages were upheld. 28 December 2011 Supreme Court refused the appellate reviews by the four arsonists.
Perpetrators
David Vaculík