Four Czech troops to stand trial over 2018 death of Afghan soldier
PRAGUE, April 22 (Reuters) - Four Czech soldiers will face trial for alleged crimes related to the death of an Afghan soldier after he was detained and interrogated in 2018, Czech prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The Czech state attorney's office said in a statement that four members of the 601st special operations forces group would stand trial on charges including extortion, insubordination, violation of guard duty obligations and failure to provide aid.
The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here.
It did not identify the four, who could face life sentences if convicted.
The Czech Defence Ministry declined to comment to Reuters. An attorney representing three of the accused was not immediately available for comment.
Czech public radio reported on its website that the accusations relate to the death of 19-year old Wahidullah Khan after he was detained by Afghan forces over an attack on troops at the Shindand base in western Afghanistan in 2018 in which one Czech soldier was killed and two injured.
The New York Times first reported the incident in 2018. It said Khan had been beaten after being taken into custody by U.S. and Czech troops, was unconscious when he was returned to Afghan troops the same day and died shortly afterwards. It said U.S. and Czech troops were being investigated over the incident.
The Czech army operated in Afghanistan from 2002 until 2021. Its troops were deployed there as part of the U.N.-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) set up to assist the Afghan government in securing the country and training Afghan National Security Forces.
Czech troops were also part of the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission established after ISAF was disbanded.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wales Online
21 hours ago
- Wales Online
Policewoman said she'd been driving speeding car but there was one big problem with her story
Policewoman said she'd been driving speeding car but there was one big problem with her story Sanna Khan, 31, said she was driving a Toyota caught speeding in the West Midlands but investigators found a glaring hole in her story Sanna Khan falsely claimed to have been behind the wheel of a car that was speeding (Image: Copyright Unknown ) A former police officer lied when she filled out a form stating she was driving at the time of a speeding offence when it was her brother who was actually behind the wheel. The evasion came to the light when the officer failed to attend a driving workshop, and she raised the matter with her superiors. Sanna Khan, 31, was employed by South Wales Police when she fraudulently claimed to be the driver of a Toyota Land Cruiser which was caught driving at 68mph in a 60mph limit on the M5 in the West Midlands on March 8, 2023. A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Friday heard it was impossible for the defendant to be the driver as she was working a shift at Cardiff Bay police station at the time of the offence. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter. Prosecutor Hannah Friedman said Khan's brother returned a notice of intended prosecution to the authorities on March 31, stating he was not the driver and provided his sister's contact details. The document was then sent to the defendant who confirmed she was the driver and wished to take a speed awareness course, which was available to her. Article continues below But Khan failed to book a place on such a course within the required four-month period and in October, 2023, she was summoned to attend a hearing at Worcester Magistrates Court. Having told her superiors about the hearing, the defendant said she was required to contact the internal professional standards department at South Wales Police. When this matter was investigated by the department, it was discovered that Khan could not have been the driver as she was working a duty shift at Cardiff Bay police station. The defendant was arrested and in her interview she acknowledged her actions had been misleading but did not amount to perverting the course of justice. She told the interviewing officer: "I knew it was wrong and shouldn't have done that. I knew instantly it was misleading". Khan, of Roundwood Close, Penylan, Cardiff, later pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. The court heard she was of previous good character. In mitigation, defence barrister Susan Ferrier said her client had a "promising career" in the police but as a result of her conviction she had been forced to resign. Ms Ferrier said: "As a result of her one bad decision she has ruined all of that for herself." It was said that the defendant was planning a wedding and helping with the family business, which led to her driving the Toyota Land Cruiser on occasions, but she failed to check if she was the driver at the time of the offence. Sentencing, Judge Daniel Williams said: "This is in many respects a sad case, you were a hardworking and diligent police officer, a career lost to you following your resignation." Article continues below Khan was sentenced to 27 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 15 months. She was also ordered to carry out 120 hours unpaid work and to pay £1,630 in costs.
Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
Russia says its strike against Kyiv and other centres was a response to Ukrainian 'terrorist acts'
MOSCOW, June 6 (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Friday that its forces had carried out a massive and successful strike on military and military-related targets in Ukraine overnight in response to what it called Ukrainian "terrorist acts" against Russia. Russia's military released the statement after Ukrainian officials said Russia had launched an intense missile and drone barrage at Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in the early hours of Friday and that three people had been killed. Russia has accused Ukraine of being behind a deadly bomb attack on a bridge over a railway line in western Russia at the weekend that was blown up just as a train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow was passing underneath. Seven people were killed and 155 injured in the incident which Kyiv has not taken responsibility for. Separately, Ukraine attacked Russian nuclear-capable bomber planes at airfields over the same weekend, causing significant damage. President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump this week that he would retaliate. The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that the big overnight strikes had been a response to what it called Kyiv's "acts of terrorism". "Everything that is taking place within the framework of the special military operation (in Ukraine), everything that is being done by our military on a daily basis, is a response to the actions of the Kyiv regime, which has acquired all the characteristics of a terrorist regime," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Ukraine has frequently accused Russia of terrorism, citing attacks in which thousands of civilians have been killed. Both sides say they do not target civilians. The Russian military said in its statement that it had used long-range weapons to strike Ukraine. "In response to terrorist acts by the Kyiv regime, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a massive strike overnight with long-range air, sea and land-based precision weapons," the ministry said. It said the strike had targeted "Ukrainian design bureaus, enterprises for the production and repair of weapons and military equipment, assembly workshops for strike drones, flight training centres, and Ukrainian armed forces weapons and military equipment depots." "The objective of the strike was achieved. All designated targets were hit." Russian troops had also taken control of the settlement of Fedorivka in eastern Ukraine, the Defence Ministry said. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.
Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
Three men to go on trial next year over fires linked to UK PM Starmer
LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - Three men all linked to Ukraine will go on trial next April accused of involvement in a series of arson attacks on houses and a vehicle in London connected to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a London court heard on Friday. Over five days last month, police were called to fires at a house in north London owned by Starmer, another at a property nearby where he used to live, and to a blaze involving a car that also used to belong to the British leader. Ukrainian Roman Lavrynovych, 21, is charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life. Fellow Ukrainian Petro Pochynok, 34, and Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, who was born in Ukraine, are accused of conspiracy to commit arson. Lavrynovych and Carpiuc appeared by video-link at London's Old Bailey court on Friday where Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb set the trial for April 27 next year. Pochynok was not present for the hearing. In earlier hearings, prosecutors said the motive for the arsons was unclear. The men will enter formal pleas at a hearing in October, but the lawyers for Carpiuc and Pochynok said their clients denied involvement. Counter-terrorism police have led the investigation but none of the men have been charged with offences under terrorism laws or the new National Security Act, which was brought in to target hostile state activity. Police said the first fire involved a Toyota RAV4 car that Starmer used to own and sold to a neighbour. Days later, there was a blaze at a property where Starmer previously resided and the following day there was an attack on a house in north London that he still owns. Starmer, who has lived at his official 10 Downing Street residence in central London since becoming prime minister last July, has called the incidents "an attack on all of us, on our democracy and the values we stand for". Earlier this week a fourth man, aged 48, who had been arrested at London Stansted Airport in connection with the arson, was released on police bail.
