The decision by the High Court in Olomouc took into account other crimes that the perpetrator was in the process of committing when the attack took place. Title photo: Petra Kvitova by Peter Menzel (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Flickr, June 2018. For illustrative purposes.
Brno / Czech Rep., Jan 8 (BD) – Radim Zondra, the man convicted of attacking Czech tennis star Petra Kvitova at her home in Prostejov in December 2016, has had his sentence extended by the High Court in Olomouc.
Originally convicted in March 2019 and sentenced to eight years in prison, Zondra is now set to spend 11 years behind bars, following a reevaluation of the case by High Court Judge Vladimir Rutar. The revised sentence adds charges of robbery, violation of liberty, and theft to the original charge of assault handed down by the Regional Court in Brno, Czech News Agency (CTK) reported this morning.
According to Judge Rutar, as quoted in Czech media outlets: “The attack was, in fact, clearly motivated by the poor material situation of the perpetrator.” He further noted that Zondra was in hundreds of thousands of crowns of debt. The judge’s decision follows a recommendation from Marian Kollar of the State Prosecutor’s Office, who reasoned that there was no doubt that profit was Zondra’s motivation and recommended an extra charge of robbery.
Kvitova was left with potentially career-ending injuries following the attack, and required a complex operation. She returned to top level tennis six months later, but has permanent damage to her left hand, and will never regain 100% mobility in her fingers.
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