Dominik Feri resigned his membership from TOP 09 on Monday following allegations of sexual harassment and violence. Victim testimonies from several women have accused Feri of sexual offences including rape. Feri denied committing sexual violence against women but apologized for inappropriate behavior. Photo Credit: Top09.cz.
Czech Rep., June 2 (BD) – Dominik Feri resigned his membership of TOP 09 on Monday, after stepping down as an MP last week following allegations of sexual harassment and violence. The party had issued a statement calling on Feri to suspend his membership. Feri denied committing sexual violence against women but apologized for inappropriate behavior. He said he had given up his seat because he did not want false information spreading in the media to harm him and his colleagues. He was elected at the age of 21, as the youngest member of the Chamber of Deputies in the history of the Czech Republic, but his resignation means that he will not run for elections in October.
Prague police have launched an investigation into the allegations, which date back to 2015 when he was a student at the Faculty of Law at Charles University, and continue up to 2020. The university said that it takes the accusations very seriously, yet cannot take any disciplinary action as he has already graduated. Victim testimonies from several women have accused Feri of rape, and attempting to release nude photos of them to shame them publicly. Feri will contest these allegations in court.
A statement from TOP 09 expressed support for all those who may have been victims of Feri’s actions. “We consider the information about Dominik Feri that appeared in the media to be very serious. We consider the accusations and actions attributed to him to be unacceptable not only for public officials but also for anyone else.” Yesterday, Olga Sommerová replaced Feri in the Chamber of Deputies.
