Lawyer: Czech Expert Biased Because He’s Jewish
A Jewish judicial expert on extremism in the Czech Republic has quit his job after having been accused of being biased because of his Jewish background. According to Radio Prague, Michal Mazel’s resignation followed the filing of an objection by lawyer Petr Kočí on behalf of his client, a member of the extremist Workers’ Party for Social Justice. The lawyer’s 22-year-old female client had been charged with inciting ethnic hatred.
Mazel, whose testimony had helped to ban the right-wing Workers’ Party (the predecessor of the Workers’ Party for Social Justice), said he had simply had enough of the intimidation he has had to endure in recent years. He reported that neo-Nazis were threatening him online, including suggesting that someone send him a black mamba (a highly deadly snake) as a Hanukkah gift. Mazel claimed that the fact that there are just a few judicial experts on extremism in the country made them vulnerable to attack. He went on to recommend that the judicial system replace the individual experts with a committee on extremism and racism.
The lawyer’s objection to Mazel’s testimony was met with outrage from the Czech legal community. While the judge in the case will soon render a decision on the objection made against Mazel, the Czech Bar Association is considering disciplinary proceedings against the lawyer.
Former justice minister Tomáš Sokol was among those who spoke out against Mazel’s accuser. “I do not think that race or ethnic background in and of themselves can be grounds for an objection claiming someone is biased — be they a judicial expert or even a judge. Whether we are talking about the Holocaust or National Socialism… just because you are Jewish doesn’t mean you will find it [more abhorrent]; both should be abhorrent to any sensitive and decent person,” he stated.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
