The court sentenced three young men who set fire to a church in Třinec-Guty

Ostrava - The Regional Court in Ostrava today sentenced three young men to prison for 3.5 years, eight, and nine years for setting fire to a rare wooden church in Třinec-Guty. The highest sentence was given to the man who devised the action. The fire caused damage exceeding 20 million crowns last summer, but the historical damage is incalculable.

The question of what motivated the act remained unanswered even after the court proceedings concluded, despite all the defendants partially admitting to the act. "No defendant explained why they actually did it. The claim that it just came to them is not sufficient for the court," said Judge Lenka Čechová.

One possible reason emerged from the psychological assessment. The now nineteen-year-old young man, who was the initiator of the action, is physically disabled, suffers from a rare incurable disease, and walks only with a cane. The expert did not rule out that the motivation for setting fire to the church could have been revenge against God for having inflicted this disease upon him.

According to the court, the young man planned the arson for some time. He might have found inspiration while listening to so-called Nordic metal, which sings about burning churches. He arranged with another now nineteen-year-old man to be available as a driver, and he later informed his then seventeen-year-old friend about the plan to carry out the arson attack.

They carried out the act two days before the youngest of the trio reached adulthood. Therefore, this boy was tried as a minor, and the proceedings were closed to the public except for the announcement of the verdict. According to court experts, the young man has a mild fascination with starting fires and observing them, but it is not pyromania. He reportedly wanted to help his friend because he is disabled.

The defendants collectively purchased gasoline, which they filled into four plastic bottles. At the site, they first surveyed the church and ensured that no one was there. The seventeen-year-old then placed three bottles against the back wall of the church, poured gasoline from the fourth bottle on and around them, and struck a match. They filmed the church burning with a mobile phone.

The driver, who stayed in the car, claimed that while he brought his friends to the site, he did not believe that they would actually set fire to the church. The court did not believe him. "He saw that they were siphoning gasoline and that the defendant who was a minor had a special lighter," said the judge. Before the drive, the driver reportedly asked whether he should cover the license plate. "It must have been clear to him even then that it wouldn't just be some joyride," the judge said.

The driver reportedly yelled at his friends after the act but then took 4000 crowns from them for his help. In the car, the defendants talked about needing to set fire to the church in Bílá as well. The driver later reported to the police, who arrested all the perpetrators two days after the fire.

According to the court, mitigating circumstances included that the defendants committed the act at an age close to that of minors and that they had lived properly and had not been punished until then. On the other hand, it weighed against them that the act was premeditated and that the initiator had led the minor to it. The judge stated that since the 16th century, the church had withstood everything until the defendants set it alight without any reason or respect for the historical monument. "The court was astonished by the absolute absence of any remorse from the defendants," said the judge.

The driver received a sentence at the very lower limit of the range, which was eight to fifteen years in prison. The minor, who carried out the act and left the court with three and a half years, faced one to five years in prison. Two defendants appealed on the spot, while the third reserved the right to appeal, as did state prosecutor Josef Šuhaj, who said the court imposed even stricter penalties on the defendants than he had requested, and that he would consider possible appeals in their favor.

"I believe that these are individuals close to the age of minors. And some unnecessary, in my opinion draconian sentences imposed as unconditional, in their case given the situation where they are essentially well resocializable and there is certainly interest in them earning and compensating for the damage caused, I believe are not appropriate," said Šuhaj.

The rare medieval Church of the Body of Christ was a national cultural monument. The fire caused damage of nearly 6.7 million crowns to the furnishings, and damage to the church building was estimated at 14 million. A faithful replica will be built at the site of the burned church, and its construction should largely be covered by insurance. The costs associated with the furnishings should be paid by a collection announced by the Třinec town hall. The new church should be completed in the spring of 2019.