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26/08/2022
CZ: The Supreme Administrative Court ruled that to prove persecution on the grounds of political opinion, the applicant must prove any activity involving the exercise of political rights and freedoms.

ECLI
Input Provided By
EUAA Courts and Tribunals Network
Other Source/Information
Type
Judgment
Original Documents
Relevant Legislative Provisions
Revised Qualification Directive (Directive 2011/95/EU on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as BIP for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection- recast)/or QD 2004/83/EC
Reference
Czech Republic, Supreme Administrative Court [Nejvyšší správní soud], V.N.J. v Ministry of the Interior (Ministerstvo vnitra), 5 Azs 153/2020-63, 26 August 2022. Link redirects to the English summary in the EUAA Case Law Database.
Permanent link to the case
https://caselaw.euaa.europa.eu/pages/viewcaselaw.aspx?CaseLawID=3080
Case history
Other information
Abstract

According to the summary provided by the EUAA Courts and Tribunals Network:


"The applicant, a Cuban national, applied for international protection in the Czech Republic. He stated that the Cuban police persecuted him in 2014-2016, had a well-founded fear of persecution, and on several occasions had been ill-treated, summoned or detained (as a result of the applicant's real or alleged offence, or in connection with the anti-regime activities of other persons, although he has not been politically active and has no political opinion).


The Ministry of the Interior rejected his application. His action filed against this decision was dismissed by the Municipal Court in Prague. The applicant challenged the Municipal Court's judgment before the Supreme Administrative Court ("the Court"). The Court annulled the judgment of the Municipal court as well as the administrative decision and remanded the case back to the Ministry for further proceedings. It stated that according to the Art. 4(4) of the Qualification Directive [t]he fact that an applicant has already been subject to persecution or serious harm, or to direct threats of such persecution or such harm, is a serious indication of the applicant’s well-founded fear of persecution or actual risk of suffering serious harm unless there are good reasons to consider that such persecution or serious harm will not be repeated. In their decisions, neither the Ministry nor the Municipal court gave serious reasons for believing that it was not reasonably likely that the complainant would be subjected to similar persecution even after his return to his country of origin and have not questioned the general credibility of the applicant.


The Court concluded that if the applicant (as a politically unreliable person) was subjected to police harassment in the country of origin, such action could, depending on the circumstances, reach the intensity of persecution under § 2(4) of Act No. 325/1999 Coll., Act on Asylum, even if the applicant was not subjected to physical violence.


The Court noted that according to the Art 10 (2) of the Qualification Directive, when assessing if the applicant has a well-founded fear of being persecuted it is immaterial, whether the applicant possesses the characteristic related to a political opinion that attracts the persecution, provided that that characteristic is attributed to the applicant by the actor of persecution. On the contrary, to prove persecution on the grounds of political opinion according to § 12 (a) of the Act on Asylum, the applicant must prove any activity involving the exercise of political rights and freedoms."


Country of Decision
Czech Republic
Court Name
CZ: Supreme Administrative Court [Nejvyšší správní soud]
Case Number
5 Azs 153/2020-63
Date of Decision
26/08/2022
Country of Origin
Cuba
Keywords
First Instance determination
Political opinion
Source
Nssoud
RETURN