25 years in prison is the sentence for the first Slovak eco terrorist Ladislav K. – not specifying his last name for privacy protection. The Košice regional court found him guilty of terrorism as he sent threatening letters, placed firecrackers in books, and planted a bomb in a public space. He did this with the aim to increase animal protection. Among the acts Ladislav K. was found guilty of, the most severe was the bomb threat from December 28th 2011, where he placed a bomb in a trashcan close to the entry to a fast food restaurant in the Eastern town of Košice.
The bomb was composed of a metal tube filled with black powder, nails and an active time switch. As the prosecutor stated, there were no casualties as the bomb was not properly constructed. Ladislav K. was also accused and found guilty of sending threatening letters and even a bomb to a veterinary doctor who, as a part of his job, put down sick dogs. He also sent a threatening letter to the Košice Veterinary Medical University. Slovakia does not have a court expert on terrorism, which is why one from the Czech Republic, Ivo Svoboda from the Defence University in Brno was called to the case. He concluded that the actions of the defendant have features of extremism and ecologic terrorism. The defendant’s attorney appealed the ruling of the Kosice regional court claiming it did not take her client’s mental disorder into consideration.
