Tempel spent twenty years behind bars before he was definitively acquitted of double murder charges in 2021 following the intervention of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and subsequently the Czech Constitutional Court. In doing so, they canceled the originally imposed sentence of life imprisonment and released the man for lack of evidence.
At the District Court for Prague 2, he is now demanding from the state, more precisely from the Ministry of Justice, compensation of 86 million crowns for his illegal criminal prosecution.
Tempel is claiming 86 million for 20 years in prison. The state awarded him a fraction
Crime
At Tempel’s request, the local judge Babičková decided to conduct a local investigation in Prague’s Pankrácká prison and also in the Valdice prison in order to find out what was true or not about his claims about almost inhumane conditions. Together with her, the lawyers of both sides and Tempel himself are to participate in the negotiations directly behind bars.
They didn’t want him in Valdice
While Pankrác from Prague had no problem with this request and agreed, in Valdice the judge ran into trouble.
“They don’t want you there in prison because you are popular among the prisoners and a security risk for the prison,” said Babičková at Tuesday’s meeting, adding that Valdice did not allow Tempel to enter the facility. They did agree to a local court investigation, but without Tempel’s participation.
But the judge has a different opinion. “There is no reason to exclude you from the meeting in prison, because it is actually a court meeting,” Babičková was clear that she intended to take the freed prisoner with her.
Photo: Milan Malíček, Law
Robert Tempel served 20 years.
According to her, if they are afraid of any security risk in Valdice, they can take measures. She added that the decision of the management of the local prison to ban Tempel’s entry has less weight than the civil court code, which allows for a local court investigation with the participation of all actors in the case.
That is why he will demand his participation, which Tempel himself, according to himself, stands for.
The investigation itself in the prisons should take place in the next three months. The judge also wants to film him on camera so that there is a record of him. The same step is also in play at the Mírov prison, where he was also supposed to spend several years.
He claims in court that he was treated differently in prisons than other convicts, that he had a much stricter regime, he was often in isolation, humiliated, practically not allowed to work, he was always transported with the participation of the intervention unit and was guarded more than others.
Convict: They were strict with him
This was also confirmed on Tuesday by the witness Martin Válek, who sat with Tempel in Valdice and Mírov, and is still serving his sentence for murder and also for drug distribution directly in prison.
“Tempel was placed in the strictest ward even before he was officially sentenced to life… It’s a massacre there and it’s hard. There are more frequent checks, when you go for a walk, you have to strip down to your nakedness,” Válek described his view of the strictest section in the prison.
While his escort was said to be taking him to the courts just like now in a regular prison bus, Tempel was said to be taking me in a special convoy with the participation of an intervention unit. It is said that he was always led to the canteen by at least two handcuffed guards. “He wanted to work behind bars, but they didn’t allow him,” Válek noted.
People still label him as a murderer, they feel sorry for Tempel’s wife
Crime
On Tuesday, a former special pedagogue and an educator from Bělušice prison also spoke about the fact that Tempel was treated differently in prisons compared to others, including those sentenced to life. That’s where Tempel was for the last time before his release.
“I knew how he was marked, as a life sentence, but I wasn’t afraid of him,” said former teacher Monika Tomášková. According to her, the prison’s approach to Tempel was different mainly in that he could not work. “I don’t know why that was,” she stated. Despite her recommendation, he also did not receive permission to visit the family privately there.
The former educator Mattias Insanti also admitted that Tempel was watched over more by guards, there were always two with him, but this was not the case with the other lifers. With one short exception, Tempel could not work, the reason, according to the prison management, was security. “It didn’t make sense to me,” remarked the witness, adding that he got along well with him, as did the teacher.
Negotiations will continue on April 30.
He sat wrongly for 20 years, now he is asking for compensation. It will never be good mentally again, Tempel said in court
Crime
