The fire at the Libušín cabin in Pustevny will once again be investigated by the police

Vsetín - The police will once again deal with the fire at the Libušín lodge in Pustevny that occurred two years ago. The District Court in Vsetín returned the case for further investigation to the prosecutor after the indictment was filed. The Olomouc branch of the Regional Court in Ostrava then rejected his appeal. A fifty-year-old man from the Karviná region faced charges of public endangerment, suspected of neglecting the repair of the chimney structures in 2007. The national cultural monument, which served as a restaurant, burned down in early March 2014. The restoration will cost nearly 80 million CZK.

The accused faces up to eight years in prison for public endangerment due to negligence. The Libušín lodge burned down on the night of March 2 to 3, 2014. Detectives discovered that the fire was not started intentionally and that it was not caused by a fault in the electrical installation. Investigators determined that the site of the fire was the chimney structure. The accused was involved in its repair and was deemed responsible for carrying out this work by the police and the prosecutor.

The indictment was filed in May, and in the same month, according to the website www.justice.cz , the Vsetín court decided in a closed session to return the case for further investigation to prosecutor Jiří Sachr. The regional court made a ruling on his appeal in August. Thus, the decision is final. "I must instruct the police to act within the framework of the court's decision," Sachr told ČTK today. According to him, the court requires, for example, the preparation of an expert report on the cause of the fire. Sachr will subsequently decide whether to file the indictment again.

Experts initially estimated the damage caused by the fire at more than 50 million crowns. According to the contract signed by the Valašské muzeum v přírodě in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, which manages the monument, with the supplier company Archatt, the restoration of the monument will cost nearly 80 million crowns. Restoration began in July with the dismantling of the remains of the monument. The construction of the replica is expected to start in the spring of next year.

The original lodge was built in 1899 based on the design of architect Dušan Jurkovič. The interior of Libušín featured frescoes depicting motifs from Wallachian and Slovak legends based on designs by Mikoláš Aleš. Unique features included three Art Nouveau chandeliers, a sideboard, a greenhouse, and a clock. The furnishings included one hundred carved chairs.