A Prague prosecutor’s office is dealing with a legal complaint filed against MEP Filip Turek by a former partner, accusing him of several years of domestic violence, rape, and threatening behaviour with a firearm dating back 15 to 20 years, as reported by the server Page Not Found yesterday.
Turek, the honorary chair of the extra-parliamentary Motorists Party, who is planning to stand as a candidate in the October general election, has denied the allegations of violence against his former partner, admitting only infidelity.
Given the time that has elapsed since the events described in the criminal complaint, the case may be judged beyond the statute of limitations, which at the time was five years for rape, or 12 if the act caused serious bodily harm.
“However, it depends on whether there are other possible victims in the case from the recent past or present. Then the statute of limitations could be broken for this case as well,” the server pointed out.
The woman filed the criminal complaint late last year. She said Turek had mentally and physically abused her for years, threatening her with a gun, threatening her with death and, in one case, raping her.
“All of this is completely absurd,” Turek wrote on Facebook. He said the accusations were politically motivated by a person who ran unsuccessfully for the Greens. “I consider this to be an attempt to create a media lynching of my person before the elections with a political motive,” he added.
In response to a question from Page not Found, he wrote in a text message: “Promiscuous I unfortunately was… Unfaithful unfortunately yes… Broken hearts there unfortunately were… Disgraced mistresses unfortunately yes… Criminal offence and the aforementioned violence absolutely not.”
“I believe the police will clarify the entire case in a completely impartial, swift and responsible manner and that they will focus in particular on the version that this is a targeted case aimed at disgracing and criminalising Filip Turek,” said Renata Vesecka, a former Czech chief prosecutor who is running in the October parliamentary elections for the Motorists, speaking to reporters yesterday evening.
She added that if the complainant’s allegations are not proven to be true, the police should focus on the possibility that her goal is to damage Turek ahead of the elections.
The complaint is now being investigated by prosecutors at the Prague 4 District Prosecutor’s Office.
“The criminal case in question is now in the initial stage of the pre-trial criminal proceedings, which we refer to as the investigation,” Ales Cimbala, spokesman for the Prague Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office, told the server. “Given the statutory non-public nature of the preliminary proceedings, it is not possible to provide further information on the matter for the moment.”
Police officers recently intercepted Turek driving on the D5 motorway in west Bohemia, speeding, holding a phone while driving, and without a valid motorway vignette. His driving misdemeanours are now being dealt with in administrative proceedings by the Customs Office for the Plzen Region and Rokycany Town Hall.
