A student accused of involvement in an arson attack on a Czech weapons factory has spent six months in pre-trial detention, including three months in solitary confinement, while facing charges that carry a potential sentence of 20 years.
Youssef Moursi, 25, denies involvement in the attack and believes he has been targeted because of his pro-Palestine activism.
Moursi, a humanities student at Charles University in Prague, is one of 11 people charged over a fire at LPP Holding, a weapons factory in Pardubice, on 20 March. A previously unknown group calling itself the Earthquake Faction claimed responsibility, saying it targeted the factory over its reported partnership with Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems.
LPP Holding and Elbit had announced plans to collaborate on drone production in 2023, although LPP later said the partnership never went ahead. No one was injured in the fire, but police said the building was destroyed, causing damage estimated at more than €4 million.
Moursi says the conditions of his detention are intended to wear down those accused. “They deliberately try to break us by putting some of us in solitary confinement for months, denying us visits, blocking correspondence, or spreading fear,” he told Al Jazeera. He is currently allowed just one hour outside his cell and 20 minutes of phone calls each day, with visits from friends and family every two weeks.
The investigation has also affected activists who have not been charged. Members of Prague 4 Palestine Youth say they have faced interrogations, home raids and the confiscation of electronic devices. One activist, identified as Rue, said police kept them awake for more than 24 hours during questioning and a subsequent home search.
Lawyers say those detained could remain imprisoned for up to four years without conviction. Moursi’s detention is due to be reviewed again in early December, with the trial expected to begin within a year.
The case reflects a wider European crackdown on Palestine solidarity activism. In Britain, four Palestine Action members were convicted of criminal damage with a “terrorist connection” following a raid on an Elbit Systems factory. In Germany, five people accused of targeting a site linked to the Israeli weapons manufacturer are on trial, while Polish police have arrested activists protesting against Elbit at an arms fair.
