Czech court upholds 17-year sentence for attack on Ukrainian truck drivers

Czechia’s Constitutional Court has upheld a 17-year prison sentence for a Lithuanian man convicted of stabbing two Ukrainian truck drivers at a parking lot in western Bohemia.

The court rejected Karolis Palubinskas’ complaint as manifestly unfounded, ČTK reported Tuesday after obtaining the ruling. Palubinskas maintained that he had acted in self-defense, but the constitutional judges said the lower courts had already examined and rejected that account.

The attack took place on April 6, 2024, in Folmava, near the German border. According to the courts’ findings, drivers had gathered around a table to drink and talk.

After a discussion that included Russia’s war in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin, whom Palubinskas defended, he went to his truck, returned with knives and attacked the two men.

Both Ukrainians suffered serious stab and slash wounds. The courts found that their injuries, which included skull and facial fractures, would have been fatal without rapid transport to a hospital and specialist treatment.

Palubinskas told the Regional Court in Plzeň that one of the men had attacked him first. The Prague High Court rejected his version, citing footage from the scene and medical evidence.

It noted that some wounds had been inflicted from behind, that the victims had defended themselves with their bare hands and that Palubinskas had sustained no injuries.

The Constitutional Court found no grounds to intervene in those conclusions, leaving the 17-year sentence in place.