By Sina Adetutu, Prague, Czech Republic
An Account of the Arrest and Racial Prosecution of Nigerians by the Czech Police.
On the 12th of April 2023, the Czech police burst into the apartment of ten Nigerians living in the Czech Republic. Six of them are students and four of them have graduated from School and are currently working in various companies within the Czech Republic.
The police alleged that they were a gang of fraudsters that had been involved in money laundering and had been obtaining money from several Czech citizens by pretenses. They were all arrested, detained, charged with money laundering, and brought to court two days after their arrest. The court ordered that they be remanded in prison so that they would not interfere with the investigation and not escape from the country. All efforts to get them released since then have been rendered useless.
It’s truly astonishing, considering the strong faith placed in the Czech Legal System, which includes the police and the court system, with expectations of justice and adherence to fundamental human rights principles, notably the right to a fair trial. The court, often seen as the last resort for the common citizen, was anticipated to deliver justice in complete accordance with the principles of fair hearing as outlined in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and Article 8 of the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms rather they have unjustly incarcerated innocent Nigerians for 5months.
The highest disregard for human rights and injustice exhibited by the Czech Police is evident in its biased prosecution of this case, by releasing the Czech involved without any prosecution, delaying the investigation with the intent to keep the other accused persons in prison, and engaging in media trial of the case. The court has not helped in correcting the abnormality of the Czech police but has helped the police to continue in the abuse of human rights and their biased prosecution. The Court has handled this case with a biased opinion and refused to release the accused persons despite adducing all the necessary evidence to assure the court that they won’t interfere with the police investigation and provided surety with a bond that they won’t leave the country as well as be present during the prosecution of the case.
According to the charge sheet, there were 11 persons involved in the alleged money laundering/obtaining money from several Czech citizens by pretenses. As previously mentioned, this allegation led to the arrest mentioned in paragraph 1. However, it is important to note that the police only arrested 10 out of the 11 alleged involved. This is the first instance of police discrimination, racial arrest, and prosecution in this case. All the Nigerians who were presumed to have been involved were arrested and the only Czech involved was not arrested. The said Nigerians have been in detention for the past 5 months whereas the Czech person involved is walking free. The police became an advocate for the Czech Person claiming his innocence whereas the Nigerians who stated that they knew nothing about the whole alleged crime were tagged to be a part of an organized group simply because they were Nigerians even when some of the accused were only meeting or knowing themselves for the first time after the arrest.
The 11th person involved in the alleged crime is one Lukas Hypsa a Czech Citizen. On page 32 of the charge sheet, He had a friendly relationship with one of the accused persons named Judith and occasionally helped her with ordinary matters such as connecting to the Internet or interpreting into Czech. On about 1 June 2022, Lukas was asked by Judith to provide her with his bank account number. Hypsa provided her with his bank account number. About three days later, funds amounting to 83,477 CZK were credited to his bank account. Hypsa immediately contacted her to tell her that he had received some money and asked what to do with the money. Judith sent him an account number to which he was supposed to transfer the money. At the time, it didn’t occur to him that this was probably not right, he transferred the full amount to the bank account that Judith had given him. He also didn’t think since the money was coming from an unknown name, he ought to return it to the sender, rather he transferred it to another account just like some of the accused in this case.
However, given the circumstances arising from the testimony of Lukas Hypsa, his conduct was qualified as a separate offense of laundering the proceeds of crime through negligence under Section 217(1) of the Criminal Code and thus he wasn’t incarcerated but the other Nigerians with the same circumstance have been put in custody.
Lukas Hypsa’s case mirrors the accounts of three of the seven innocent victims arrested, underscoring a concerning pattern. The police’s prejudiced perspective led to the unwarranted incarceration of the Nigerians, compounded by their public exposure through a newspaper article accompanied by arrest photographs and video of the arrest. The media trial and biased remarks in Expats. Cz on May 27, 2023, and Novinky. cz on May 26, 2023, falsely claimed the arrest of 10 foreigners for money laundering. However, it failed to convey the true extent of the Czech Police’s vindictiveness, human rights abuses, racism, and selective prosecution. The glaring omission of the Czech individual involved raises questions about a potential double standard in the legal treatment of Czechs and foreigners, particularly those of a specific racial background.
It must be noted that at least seven (7) out of the 10 Nigerians arrested by the Czech police were people who carried out their business, schooling, and other activities in the Czech Republic through right and legal means. At least 2 of those 7 mentioned above arrested were victims who personally reported this matter to the police. The police’s awareness of the matters was not based on their intelligence and prudent work. This matter came to the police because it was reported by a student who discovered that his account was used by one of the perpetrators for fraudulent activities. Unlike Lukas, he reported to the police, yet he has been in prison for 5 months while Lukas walks free.
Allow me to provide a concise overview of the case, which will facilitate a better understanding. This will aid in your assessment of whether these eight Nigerians should be imprisoned. If Lukas Hypsa remains unincarcerated, it raises questions about the justification for the detention of these eight Nigerians, by the fundamental principle of fair hearing. This principle, articulated in Article 4 of the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, mandates equal treatment for every accused person, irrespective of factors such as sex, race, skin color, language, faith, religion, political beliefs, ethnicity, social origin, membership in a national or ethnic minority, property, birth, or any other status. This includes the right to a fair trial and protection from unjust prosecution by the Czech Police, as enshrined in Article 8 of the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.
As a result of the Nigerian Government’s policy, which restricted access to Forex starting from July 27, 2021, many Nigerians have resorted to a workaround for sending money to their families and friends in Nigeria. They seek out individuals who possess Naira and require the local currency of the country they reside in, such as dollars in the US, pounds in the UK, or Koruna in the Czech Republic, for various expenses like school fees and rent. To illustrate this process using the Czech Republic as an example, those with Naira will transfer it to a Nigerian account where it is needed, and in return, they will receive the equivalent amount in Czech Crowns in the Czech Republic.
Sometimes, in March 2022, the main perpetrator, Chinedu Okolie, a Nigerian Student, approached Jonathan, another Nigerian Student for help to get some money in Nigeria because he (Chinedu) has a project in Nigeria. The Naira was sent into Chinedu’s account, and he promised to send the equivalent of the amount in Czech Krouna to Jonathan. This was sent through a strange account number, but Chinedu called Jonathan immediately to confirm the payment stating that it was his friend who sent it from their account. Not being suspicious and having no criminal thoughts Jonathan accepted the explanation from Chinedu. This happened severally until Jonathan was uncomfortable and went ahead to report it to the police. He even got a recorded confession from Chinedu about the crime showing Jonathan knows nothing about it. All these have been submitted to the police, but the Czech police chose to lock him up.
It is important to note that Jonathan Jonah is a self-paying Ph.D. student whose funds for self-financing are mainly in Nigeria, hence he constantly must find a way to bring the funds here by exchanging them with other students here who want to send Koruna back to their loved ones in Nigeria. This is a normal phenomenon everywhere in the world but in this instance, unknown to him he was dealing with a criminal in the person of Chinedu Okolie.
Abdulbasit, a final year student needed money for visa renewal purposes. So, he approached another final year student, Mary for help, Mary in turn reached out to Jonathan mentioned above, and then the amount needed was transferred to Mary before getting to Abdulbasit’s account. After the purpose it was for, the money was returned but Abdulbasit and Mary are currently incarcerated for having taken money emanating from crime proceeds. Please, how are they supposed to know??.
Abdulsamad suddenly saw money in his account but didn’t know where it came from only for Chinedu (mentioned earlier) to call claiming he was the one who sent the money to him through his friend’s account and asking for the money to be sent to him. Abdulsamad sent the money in full to Chinedu. He however felt there was foul play, so he proactively reported the case to the police and has a police report for it but as of now he has also been in detention for 6 months.
Jerry, also a student, was short of funds for daily upkeep. So he went to his friend, Jonathan to lend him some money, Jonathan obliged, and this said amount was returned to Jonathan in full afterward as he became buoyant. However, Jerry is now in custody. When did it become a crime to borrow money from friends? How was Jerry supposed to know the money belongs to proceeds from crime?
This is the story of at least seven (7) out of the 10 people arrested. The police decided not to listen to them or believe their story because they are Nigerians.
It is important to note that it was one of those arrested, i.e. Abdulsamad, who went to inform the police about the unauthorized amount that came into his account which instigated the police into investigating the case. The investigation led to two people – Chinedu Okolie and his wife, Judith Okolie out of the 10 arrested who had the motive and intention to defraud people and use others unknowingly to claim the proceeds of their fraud.
The police chose to believe the testimony of Lukas Hypsa because he is Czech and discarded the story of seven (7) other students who were also victims of the crime like Lukas Hypsa because they are Nigerians. It is important to note that not all Nigerians are criminals. This action of the Czech police is nothing but vindictive and indicative of selective prosecution.
Without any iota of doubt, a crime has been committed and the role of the Police is to ensure that the criminals are arraigned, punished for the crime committed, and protect victims of such crime. Not to punish victims alongside the offenders. Seven (7) of those whom the Czech police have arrested and detained in prison for the past 6 months are victims just like Lukas Hypsa and did not commit the alleged crime. Rather they are victims of the crime themselves.
The same yardstick used for Lukas Hypsa should be used for these as well without any discrimination, or biased opinion and by the law. However, this has not been the case. Due to this biased prosecution, the police have been sluggish with their investigation and only three of the ten arrested have been interrogated. The police intend to keep them in prison in perpetuity regardless of whether they are innocent or not. This is unfair and inhuman. It must be noted that due to this abysmal treatment, two (2) of the victims who are ladies have attempted suicide while in detention because no one deserves such inhuman treatment for the offense one has not committed.
The perpetrators have been identified and arrested and are currently in police custody. It is therefore unjust that the victims of the crime should also be detained by the police. Their unlawful and prolonged detention is a flagrant violation of their fundamental human rights. It interferes with their rights to life and liberty, work and education as these individuals are upstanding and productive immigrants who also contribute to the development of Czech society by working, going to school, and in some cases doing both.
The biased opinion and victimization of the accused persons further occurred during their second custody hearing after they had been kept in prison for 5 months. The 8 innocent victims, haven been kept apart for 5 months, all met in court for the first time and gave their statements which all pointed out to the perpetrators Chinedu Okolie and his wife Judith Okolie.
Their lawyers (for the 7 victims) prayed before the judge for their release as they had been wrongly accused, and provided sureties with bonds to guarantee the court that they would not jump bail, interfere with the investigation, and be present during their trials. By the law, they are students who carry out their activities legally and have a clean criminal record. Yet the court refused to let them out because they are Nigerians and may leave the country if released. This is indeed unfortunate.
It must also be noted that for the 7 innocent victims, their international passports have been seized and visas expired so the possibility of leaving the country is zero besides that the accused are determined to clear their names and hence have no motive or incentive to leave the country.
We hereby call on citizens of the world, NGOs, the Czech Government, the Nigerian Government, the United Nations, the European Union, and all other well-meaning citizens of the world to please help intervene in this matter so that justice can prevail, and the innocent does not continue to suffer for a crime not committed.
Publisher’s Note: This is an ongoing investigative story. Our initial efforts to hear from the Czech Republic Embassy in Nigeria proved abortive as our calls were not picked or returned. We wait their response to our email. We are also making efforts to obtain the comment of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM). We will publish their comments as soon as we hear from them.
