The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic rejected the appeals of a firefighter and an official who had been convicted over failings during the 2020 accident on the Bečva River, and upheld their fines. The Czech News Agency found the decision, taken in a closed session, in the justice database, and court spokeswoman Gabriela Tomíčková confirmed it on 2 November 2026. The full reasoning was not yet available. Both convicted may still turn to the Constitutional Court [1][2].
Content of the verdict
According to the final judgment, the firefighter seriously breached through negligence his duties in directing the rescue work on 20 September 2020 in Choryně in the Vsetín area, where anglers had spotted the first dead fish in the river. He was supposed to protect the environment, arrange an investigation and take samples. The official, a clerk in the environment and construction department in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, is according to the same decision responsible for an unlawful administrative decision from 2018. She allowed the company Energoaqua to collect surface water in the lagoons instead of treated water from the treatment plant, so that the lagoons, as the last safeguard, could not hold back a possible escape of insufficiently treated wastewater [1][3].
Both received fines for obstructing the task of an official person. The Regional Court in Olomouc, as the appellate court, reduced the official's fine from 60,000 to 40,000 crowns because of a change in the legal classification, and upheld the firefighter's fine of 30,000 crowns [1][2].
The role of the company Energoaqua
According to another final decision of the Vsetín court, the poisoning of the Bečva was caused by the company Energoaqua from Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. The legal entity was not punished, however, because the specific culprit of the accident could not be identified, and it therefore bears no criminal liability. The company denied guilt. The Czech Environmental Inspectorate imposed a fine of five million crowns on it for discharging wastewater in breach of its permit, and the Ministry of the Environment upheld the fine [1][3].
The accident
Cyanide contaminated the Bečva on the border of the Zlín Region and the Olomouc Region. The pollution affected approximately 40 kilometres of the river and killed more than 40 tonnes of fish. [1][5].
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 2 November 2026
- Novinky.cz — 2 November 2026
- Lidovky.cz — 2 November 2026
- Blesk.cz — 2 November 2026
- iDNES.cz: Zlín — 2 November 2026