Czech Biochemist Sues Kotlar Over Remarks About mRNA Vaccines
Prague/Bratislava, 26 February (TASR) – Czech biochemist Zdenek Hel, a professor of immunology at the University of Alabama, has filed a criminal complaint against Slovak Government Proxy for Investigating COVID-19 Pandemic Management Peter Kotlar over statements Kotlar made in the Czech Parliament, suspecting Kotlar of spreading a fear-mongering alarmist message, TASR's special correspondent in Prague reported on Thursday.
Kotlar is already facing criminal prosecution in Slovakia.
"A criminal complaint against the Slovak government proxy Peter Kotlar has been officially filed. Investigations are under way simultaneously in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic," Hel wrote on Thursday on Facebook.
His lawyer, Artur Ostry, specified that the complaint was filed on Monday (23 February) with the District State Prosecutor's Office for Prague 1.
Hel announced the move shortly after a seminar, held at the end of January in the lower house of the Czech parliament under the auspices of the PRO (Law, Respect, Expertise) party, led by Jindrich Rajchl. During the event, Kotlar claimed, among other things, that Covid vaccines are biological weapons controlled by multinational corporations.
The Slovak police have also contacted the Czech biochemist and his lawyer.
"They wanted information on whether and where the criminal complaint had been filed so that a request for international cooperation could be made," Hel conveyed Ostry's statement on his Facebook profile.
As Kotlar has already been charged in Slovakia, filing another criminal complaint with Slovak authorities would currently make little sense, he said, as police in Bratislava are already examining the matter concerning events in the Czech Republic.
"We filed the criminal complaint on suspicion of committing the crime of spreading alarmist information ... and concurrently the crime of general endangerment," Ostry added, noting that if intent could not be proven, at minimum the elements of negligent general endangerment could be met.
Ostry told the news website iDNES.cz that a Slovak investigator indicated by phone that Slovak authorities would also seek to investigate Kotlar's alleged criminal conduct that took place in the Czech Republic.
