Egyptian student held six months in Czech Republic over alleged arms factory arson as pro-Palestine groups allege crackdown

Prague, Czech Republic – Youssef Moursi, 25, an Egyptian university student and activist in Prague, has been held in pre-trial detention for the past six months. He is accused of involvement in a March arson attack on a Czech arms factory said to have ties to Israel.

Moursi is among 11 people charged with "terrorism" in connection with the attack and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The case is seen as echoing legal battles in the United Kingdom, where activists from the Palestine Action movement have been convicted under counterterrorism laws, and in Germany, where five people accused of targeting a facility linked to Elbit Systems – Israel's largest weapons manufacturer – are on trial.

Moursi, a humanities student at Charles University, said in a statement that two days after the alleged attack, "a group of armed, masked police officers kicked down the door of my home." He denies any involvement.

According to his lawyer, Moursi was held in solitary confinement for the first three months of his detention. He is now allowed out of his cell for one hour a day, can make a 20-minute phone call each day, and receives visits from family and friends once every two weeks.

Moursi described "a psychological front being waged against us, as the authorities try to break us by holding some people in solitary confinement for months, denying visits, blocking correspondence or spreading fear."

He said it was "unacceptable" to "keep people in pre-trial detention and repeatedly extend it without direct evidence, relying mainly on a combination of personal beliefs, social activism, racism and an attempt to blur the line of freedom of expression."

Moursi and his lawyer, Pavel Cizinsky, believe he was targeted because of his involvement in pro-Palestine activism in Prague. According to the lawyer, part of the evidence police used against his client was a social media post Moursi published the day after the fire, advising pro-Palestine activists on what to do if approached by police.

Cizinsky called that evidence "absurd" and argued that if you Google advice on what to do when questioned by police, the first thing it usually says is to wait for a lawyer; but when a pro-Palestine activist tells friends the same thing, it is treated as a sign of criminality.

The lawyer said that during the early stage of the investigation he came under pressure from the authorities not to take the case, and as a result was absent from the first interrogation and from the search of Moursi's apartment.

He said the investigation had received special attention and considerable resources from police, but that his client's five months in custody amounted to a violation of the law.

Under Czech rules, a person held in pre-trial detention without conviction must have their detention reviewed by a court every three months. Moursi's detention has so far been reviewed twice, and both times the court decided to keep him in prison. Another review is expected in early December, and a trial could begin within a year.

The fire broke out in the early hours of March 20 at LPP Holding, a Czech arms factory in Pardubice, about 120 km east of Prague. No one was injured, but police said the building was destroyed with damage estimated in the hundreds of millions of korunas, or at least four million euros.

A previously unknown pro-Palestine group called The Earthquake Faction claimed responsibility and posted video of the fire, saying it targeted LPP Holding because of the company's cooperation with Elbit Systems. In 2023, LPP Holding and Elbit Systems announced a partnership to produce drones in the Czech Republic, but on the day of the fire an LPP Holding spokesperson told Czech media that the cooperation had never gone ahead.

In the weeks after the attack, police launched a manhunt and arrested numerous foreign nationals, including Ukrainians, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles and an American. Of the other 10 accused, three are under house arrest in Poland and seven remain in custody in the Czech Republic.

Over the past two years, Elbit Systems has become a prime target for pro-Palestine activists across Europe. In June, a British court convicted four imprisoned Palestine Action members of "terrorism-related" property damage after an attack on an Elbit Systems factory in Filton, near Bristol. Last September, Polish police arrested protesters at an arms fair for throwing red liquid at the Elbit Systems stand. This week, an elderly man in Germany was arrested after protesting against the Israeli arms company.

In Prague, the atmosphere for pro-Palestine activists is increasingly tense. A collective called Prague 4 Palestine Youth has stopped organizing protests and charity work after police investigated dozens of its members in the months following the fire.

Rue, 25, a Czech activist who asked to be identified only by first name, said friends of those detained in the arson case and other activists are being questioned, having their homes searched and their devices seized indefinitely as the investigation continues.

According to Rue, nine days after the fire police questioned them and then took them to their apartment to carry out a search, keeping them awake for more than 24 hours. "I had constant panic attacks for the whole week afterwards," Rue said. After the questioning and search, Rue was told they were being treated as a witness in the arson case; their phone and computer were seized and have not been returned.

Rue believes they were investigated because of friendships with suspects in the fire. They have visited two detainees, one of whom is held in solitary confinement 23 hours a day. "By the end of visiting hours, the tears fall again," Rue said. "You are free to go anywhere, do anything, and they go back to those four walls."

According to the detainees' lawyer, they could be held in the Czech Republic for up to four years without being convicted. Police confirmed they had arrested and charged suspects of various nationalities and placed them in pre-trial detention.

Police said: "Given the seriousness of the case and the ongoing investigation into terrorist offences, the supervising prosecutor's office has taken exclusive control of providing information."