Czechia Drops Charges Against Volunteer Who Fought for Ukraine

The Czech Public Prosecutor’s Office has discontinued criminal proceedings against a Czech citizen who joined the Ukrainian military in 2022 without the president’s authorization.

Novinky reported this.

According to the case files, the man traveled to Ukraine in March 2022, shortly after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Before doing so, he asked then-Czech President Miloš Zeman for permission to serve in the Ukrainian military.

However, in July 2022, Zeman denied his request because the man had a previous criminal conviction. The conviction was later expunged. Despite the refusal, the Czech continued serving in the Ukrainian military.

Under Czech law, citizens require the president’s permission to serve in the armed forces of a foreign country.

After more than a year of investigation, police charged the man with unlawfully serving in a foreign country’s armed forces.

However, prosecutor Ondřej Bednář decided to drop the charges. He noted that the man had fought against Russian forces in Ukraine, which is located close to the Czech Republic.

According to the prosecutor, Ukraine’s defense can be seen as a way to protect the Czech Republic from Russian aggression approaching its borders. He also considered the man’s previous criminal conviction, which had since been expunged, as well as his expectation that he might be able to legalize his service.

The decision may still be reviewed. The Czech Prosecutor General has the authority to overturn it and order the case to continue.

The volunteer’s lawyer and Senator Václav Láska said this was already the eighth case in which he had successfully defended a Czech citizen against criminal prosecution for serving in Ukraine.

Militarnyi previously reported that in November 2024, Czech President Petr Pavel approved 60 requests from Czech citizens to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine.