The appellate panel of the High Court in Prague, led by Roman Drahný, on 30 September 2026 rejected all appeals filed by the defendants, the public prosecutor and the injured parties against the judgment of the Regional Court in Hradec Králové, and upheld the conclusions of the court of first instance. The case concerned the abduction of a forty-year-old businessman from Hradec Králové, who was seized by four men in front of his home in December 2022.[1][2]*

Facts Established by the Judgment

According to the judgment, the men wanted to create the impression of a police raid. They drove the assaulted businessman away in a car and injected him with an unknown substance. The man has been missing ever since and is listed in the missing persons database. Investigators believe his body ended up in water in the Vysočina or South Moravia region.[1] The court stated that it did not have sufficient evidence to conclude that the victim was dead, although it described his death as highly probable.[1]

The Role of Pavel Jelínek

According to the court, lawyer Pavel Jelínek gave one of the attackers the impetus for the act. The three direct participants in the abduction were sentenced to eight, seven and six years in prison.[1][2] Jelínek denied any guilt, denied inciting anyone to violence, and described the motive alleged by the prosecution as fabricated. He sought an acquittal.[1][2] The public prosecutor, on the other hand, insisted in his appeal that the defendants had committed murder.[1][2]

Further Circumstances

Jelínek had his practice as a lawyer suspended due to the criminal proceedings. Under the Act on the Legal Profession, a final conviction for an intentional crime is grounds for being struck from the list of attorneys. After his arrest, he spent about a year in custody, which will be counted toward his sentence. He was subsequently released on bail. The Constitutional Court later found that the general courts had erred in extending his custody.[1]

Chronology

  • — The appeals court upheld, with final effect, a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for a Pardubice lawyer for inciting an abduction. iROZHLAS iDNES.cz

Sources

  1. iDNES.cz — 30 September 2026
  2. Novinky.cz — 30 September 2026