The Czech cabinet approved a draft amendment to the Penal Code that introduces a new crime of fighting in non-state armed forces abroad, for which people can be sentenced to five years in prison.
The Justice Ministry, which drafted the amendment, said some forms of membership in non-state armed groups focusing on operations in an armed conflict abroad can be considered a serious security threat, but the current Czech legislation can punish it in a very complicated way or even not at all.
The ministry said people operating in such armed groups acquire a lot of military experience and there is the threat that they would use them after they return to their homeland. Such people may also tend to establish radical or extremist groups or persuade their followers to start fighting.
At present, only the serving in a regular army of a foreign country is a crime, but not in rebel movements. Moreover, this crime can apply only to Czech citizens.
The new legislation would eliminate the problems in proving terrorist motivation, which is now crucial in the case of somebody leaving for abroad to be trained for terrorism, but not committing a terrorist act yet.
Other crimes such as cooperation with the enemy or war treason can be applied only if the Czech Republic declared a state of war or a state of emergency.
