The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic rejected the appeals on points of law of a firefighter and an official who had been convicted over failings during the 2020 accident on the river Bečva, and confirmed their fines. It decided in a closed session, as court spokeswoman Gabriela Tomíčková stated on 2 November 2026; the Czech News Agency learned of the decision from the judicial database. The full reasoning was not yet available at that time, and the convicted can still turn to the Constitutional Court with a complaint [1][2].
Sentences
Both received a fine for obstructing the task of an official person. The appellate Krajský soud v Olomouci reduced the official's fine from 60,000 to 40,000 koruna because of a change in the legal classification, and confirmed the firefighter's 30,000 koruna [1][2].
Grounds of the convictions
According to the final verdict, the firefighter seriously breached his duties through negligence when directing rescue work on 20 September 2020 in Choryně in the Vsetín area and its surroundings, where anglers had observed the first dead fish. He was supposed to protect the environment, arrange a survey and take samples [1][2]. The official, a clerk of the department of the environment and construction in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, is according to the same decision responsible for an unlawful administrative decision from 2018 by which she allowed the company Energoaqua to collect surface water in lagoons instead of purified water from the treatment plant. As a last safeguard, the lagoons thus could not stop a possible escape of insufficiently treated wastewater into the river [1][3].
Position of the company Energoaqua
The courts named Energoaqua as the culprit of the ecological accident; the company denied guilt. According to another final decision of the court in Vsetín, it was not punished because the specific culprit of the accident could not be established and a legal entity is therefore not criminally liable. The Czech Environmental Inspectorate imposed a fine of five million koruna on it for discharging wastewater contrary to its permit, and the Ministry of the Environment confirmed the fine [1][3].
Consequences of the accident
The Bečva on the border of the Zlín Region and the Olomouc Region was contaminated with cyanide. The pollution affected about 40 kilometres of the river and killed more than 40 tonnes of fish [1][3].
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 2 November 2026
- Novinky.cz — 2 November 2026
- Blesk.cz — 2 November 2026