Czech President Petr Pavel has halted the criminal prosecution of four special forces soldiers accused in connection with the 2018 death of an Afghan detainee following an interrogation at a military base in Herat province.
As reported by Echo24, the announcement was made in a statement from Prague Castle on Wednesday and was countersigned by Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
The case has drawn sustained public attention and international scrutiny since it emerged that the detainee, Vahidullah Khan, had died shortly after being returned to Afghan custody. Khan, a member of the Afghan armed forces, had earlier shot and killed Czech dog handler Tomáš Procházka and seriously wounded two other soldiers during a deployment at the Sindand base in western Afghanistan.
Khan was arrested by Western forces and interrogated by both Czech and U.S. troops. According to investigators, his interrogation included serious mistreatment. An Afghan interpreter reportedly described hearing “screams of pain” during the session, which lasted about 20 minutes. He died shortly afterward in the hospital.
The four Czech soldiers — members of the 601st Special Forces Group — were charged in April with extortion, disobedience, breach of guard duty, and failure to render assistance. These charges, due to their severity, could have carried sentences of up to life in prison.
According to earlier reports, the men had filmed the interrogation, then deleted the footage. Investigators were later able to recover the recordings, which became central to the prosecution’s case.
Six U.S. soldiers involved in the same incident were previously disciplined by the American military. They received formal reprimands, were barred from promotion, and lost access to future military benefits.
In his decision to stop the prosecution, President Pavel cited the extreme circumstances under which the incident took place and the nature of the soldiers’ service. “After a careful assessment of all the circumstances of this case, the President of the Republic took into account, in particular, the extraordinary war situation in which the investigated incident occurred and the fact that the soldiers are not primarily charged with violent crimes,” the statement from the president’s office read.
It also noted “the complex international context of the entire case and the length of the investigation to date, which has been going on for almost seven years.”
The Regional Court in Brno had only recently confirmed the formal indictment of the soldiers, and the case was proceeding under a special judicial regime due to its classified and sensitive nature.
No further legal action will be taken against the four soldiers, and they will not face a court trial.
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