Kajínek launches another murder appeal

The country's most famous and perhaps most beloved criminal, Jiří Kajínek, has filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court to have his case reopened just two months after attempting yet another jail break: his fourth.

Kajínek was convicted in 1998 of double murder and a third attempted murder, receiving a life sentence.

"The complainant did not receive a fair trial guaranteed him by the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms," Kajínek's lawyer Tomáš Zejda wrote in the complaint, mostly based on the failure of police to collect fingerprints from the crime scene.

Kajínek has twice previously served prison sentences and was at one time pardoned by former President Václav Havel. While on furlough from an 11-year jail term for armed robbery in 1993, he did not return to prison and was eventually convicted for the contract killing of businessman Štefan Janda and Janda's bodyguard, Julián Pokoš, and the attempted murder of another bodyguard. Kajínek captured national attention when he successfully escaped from Mírov Prison in north Moravia in 2000, remaining on the run for more than a month, which spurred massive media coverage that helped publicize details about his case.

Zejda filed the complaint Sept. 27 to the Constitutional Court, asking it overturn rulings by the Plzeň Regional Court and the Prague Municipal Court, both of which rejected requests to reopen the case.

The request came as information surfaced about Kajínek's most recent attempted jail break from Karvině Prison, after which Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil had him transferred back to Mírov. Before his 2000 prison break, Kajínek attempted unsuccessfully to escape a prison in České Budějovice in 1994, then again in 1996 from one in Valdice. Both times he made it out of his cell but was apprehended within a day.

There has been a list of complaints to the Constitutional and Supreme courts and requests to reopen the trial, some from Kajínek's lawyers but many from high-level public officials, including past justice ministers Pavel Rychetský, Jaroslav Bureš and Pavel Němec. All have been rejected.

"The judges in Plzeň who originally decided this case are still in the court and will ultimately be deciding, so there likely won't be any change," said Janek Kroupa, a reporter for the daily Mladá fronta Dnes who co-authored the book Pravda o Kajínkovi (The Truth about Kajínek). "It's a spot on their reputation if the case is reopened, because they know if it is reopened, Kajínek won't be sentenced. They're scared reopening the trial might show that this person has been imprisoned for 10 years for something he didn't do."

Reports have cast doubt on the investigation that put Kajínek in jail. No gun was ever found, and some evidence seems to reveal it would have been impossible for one gunman to have carried out the crime. The credibility of witnesses has been questioned, especially as two of the policemen involved had connections to the case; one to the murdered Janda, and one to the man who ordered Janda's killing.  

"The police made mistakes, and Kajínek hasn't been treated justly," said Lukáš Charvát, who founded a website with thousands of followers dedicated to supporting Kajínek. "It's not about getting Kajínek out of jail tomorrow. It's about legally proving he did not do what he was sentenced for. … If this one case works out, then the injustice won't happen to others who might not get so much media attention."

Some polls show up to 70 percent of respondents do not believe Kajínek committed the murders, and the case inspired the blockbuster movie Kajínek, released last year.

"It's a classic story where someone stands alone against the system," Kroupa said, emphasizing he does not claim Kajínek is innocent, only that the trial was flawed.

"The women love him, and he gets sweets sent to him all the time, because there's this famous photo when he was arrested after the escape lying naked on his bed, this big muscular guy, with a bunch of police standing above him with a shotgun, and so the women feel sorry for him."

Ten years of appeals have also taken their toll, and when reached, Kajínek's lawyer cited his own fatigue in declining comment.

"I don't think [Kajínek] will ever give up, and from the outside it looks very heroic, like the man who will never be broken, but generally, what would you do in prison?" Kroupa asked.

Cat Contiguglia can be reached at
ccontiguglia@praguepost.com