Prague, Czech Republic — Youssef Moursi, a 25-year-old Egyptian university student and activist based in Prague, has been held in pre-trial detention for six months. Authorities accuse him of involvement in a March arson attack on a Czech weapons factory allegedly linked to Israel.
Moursi is among 11 individuals facing terrorism charges in connection with the attack. If convicted, he could receive a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
The case recalls similar legal proceedings in the United Kingdom, where Palestine Action activists have been prosecuted under terrorism legislation, and in Germany, where five people accused of targeting a facility associated with Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, are currently on trial.
Moursi, a humanities student at Charles University, told Al Jazeera that armed, masked police officers broke down his front door two days after the alleged incident. He denies any role in the attack.
According to his lawyer, Moursi was placed in solitary confinement for the first three months of his detention. He is currently permitted one hour outside his cell daily and 20 minutes of phone time, with visits from friends and family every two weeks.
Moursi said, “A psychological battle is being waged against us. Police allegedly seek to break us through prolonged solitary confinement, denial of visits, blocked correspondence, and the spread of fear. Keeping people in custody and repeatedly extending their detention without direct evidence—relying instead on assumptions, activism, racial bias, and an effort to blur the line between speech and crime—is unacceptable.”
Moursi and his attorney, Pavel Cizinsky, believe he was targeted due to his pro-Palestine activism in Prague.
Cizinsky said police evidence includes a social media post Moursi made the day after the fire, offering guidance to pro-Palestinian activists on how to respond if approached by officers. Cizinsky described the claim as “ridiculous.”
“Anyone who Googles what to do when questioned by police will find the standard advice: wait for your lawyer,” Cizinsky said. “But if you express that as a pro-Palestinian activist or share it with friends, it is suddenly used as grounds to presume guilt.”
Cizinsky said authorities pressured him at the outset of the investigation not to represent Moursi. Consequently, he was absent from the initial interrogation and the raid on Moursi’s apartment.
“The police are devoting extraordinary attention and substantial resources to this investigation,” Cizinsky said. “Yet detaining him for five months already appears to violate the law.”
Czech law requires that individuals in pre-trial detention who have not been convicted have their detention reviewed by a court every three months. Moursi’s detention has been reviewed twice, and both times the court ruled he must remain in prison.
His next review is scheduled for early December, with the trial expected to begin within a year.
The fire erupted in the early hours of March 20 at LPP Holding, a weapons factory in Pardubice, approximately 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Prague.
No injuries were reported, but police said the building was destroyed, with damages estimated in the hundreds of millions of Czech crowns, or at least four million euros.
A previously unknown pro-Palestinian group calling itself The Earthquake Faction claimed responsibility and shared videos of the blaze, stating it targeted LPP Holding over its cooperation with Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons firm.
LPP Holding and Elbit Systems announced a drone-building partnership in the Czech Republic in 2023. However, on the day of the fire, an LPP Holding spokesperson told Czech media that the collaboration had never taken place.
![The fire inside LPP Holding after the alleged arson attack [Courtesy of The Earthquake Faction]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==)
Following the attack, police launched a manhunt and arrested several foreign nationals, including citizens of Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and the United States. Of the other 10 accused individuals, three are under house arrest in Poland, while seven remain in custody in the Czech Republic.
Over the past two years, Elbit Systems has become a central focus for pro-Palestine activists throughout Europe.
In June, a UK court convicted four jailed members of Palestine Action of criminal damage with a “terrorist connection” after an attack on an Elbit Systems facility in Filton, near Bristol. Last September, Polish police arrested protesters at an arms exhibition for pouring red liquid over an Elbit Systems display. This week, an elderly man in Germany was detained for demonstrating against the Israeli arms company.
In Prague, the climate for pro-Palestinian activists has become increasingly tense.
A group known as Prague 4 Palestine Youth halted demonstrations and charity events after police investigations into dozens of its members in the months following the arson attack.
Rue, a 25-year-old Czech activist who asked to remain anonymous, said associates of those detained in the arson case, along with fellow activists, have faced interrogations, home raids, and the indefinite seizure of electronic devices as the investigation proceeds.
Rue said nine days after the fire, “The police interrogated us and then returned us to our apartment, where they searched the premises. They kept us awake for more than 24 hours. I suffered panic attacks for a full week afterward.”
After the interrogation and search, Rue was informed they were being treated as a witness to the arson attack. Police confiscated their phone and computer, which have not been returned.
Rue believes they were investigated because of their friendships with suspects in the arson case. They have visited two of the detainees in prison; one is held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, Rue said.
“When the visit ends, the tears come,” Rue added. “You are free to go anywhere and do anything, while they return to those four walls.”
Lawyers say the individuals detained in the Czech Republic could remain imprisoned for up to four years without conviction.
Police confirmed they have arrested and charged suspects of various nationalities and have remanded them in custody.
“Given the seriousness of the case and the ongoing terrorism-related investigation, the supervising public prosecutor’s office has assumed exclusive authority to release information,” police stated.