Court reduces prison terms for three men who stole live railway cables, disrupting a key corridor
A district court lowered the jail sentences of Ján Ištok, Martin Mirga and Nikolas Mirga, who were convicted of stealing energized railway cables that halted service on the line between Drahotušemi and Lipník nad Bečvou.
In November of the previous year, Ján Ištok, Martin Mirga and his son Nikolas Mirga used a saw and an axe to sever roughly twenty metres of live railway cables in the municipality of Jezernice. The sabotage knocked out six signals, two turnouts and fourteen sections of track on the line between Drahotušemi and Lipník nad Bečvou, effectively disabling the corridor and triggering extensive delays across the network toward Ostrava and Poland.
The district court originally sentenced Ištok to three and a half years, Mirga senior to two years, and Mirga junior to one year and three months, with a maximum possible term of six years. After the defendants appealed, the court reduced the penalties, citing their arguments that they had underestimated the situation, while still taking into account Ištok's 27 prior offences. All three pleaded not guilty throughout the proceedings.
