Police: The council acted in accordance with the law during the demolition of Štvanice

Prague - Prague councilor Aleksandra Udženija acted in accordance with the law when ordering the demolition of the protected winter stadium on Štvanice. Although the police investigated a criminal complaint filed against her by the association Acta non verba (ANV), they did not find any criminal wrongdoing in her actions and archived the case. This was stated by Prague police spokesperson Jana Rösslerová.
    According to ANV, the councilor allegedly ordered the demolition of the winter stadium in violation of the law instead of caring for the cultural monument as the representative of the owner (Prague). "Even after gathering documents from various institutions, the police did not find any circumstances that would indicate that criminal proceedings should be initiated," the spokesperson said.
    Udženija has previously denied any wrongdoing. "I don’t know if I can be held responsible for something that was ordered by the state administration," she stated. According to Prague 7 spokesperson Martin Vokuš, the building authority of Prague 7 decided on the necessity to demolish the stadium. According to the assessment, there was an immediate risk of the building collapsing.
    "We find it somewhat strange because we think the entire matter of the criminal complaint was not investigated," Vojtěch Razima from ANV told ČTK. According to him, the association believes that the assessment, which originally considered both the option of repair and demolition of the stadium, was modified under pressure from the city hall only to the possibility of demolition. "Once we are informed of their conclusion by the police, we will request a review," Razima added.
    The association is also trying to determine how much financial resources the city hall spent on the demolition, but is also seeking the aforementioned assessment on the demolition. So far, however, without results, even though the legal deadline has reportedly passed. "If the city hall had rather spent 30 million on remediation as it probably spent on demolition, the stadium could still be standing and we wouldn't have had to file a criminal complaint," Razima summarized.
    The stadium was closed at the beginning of January due to poor technical condition, as the roof had collapsed. The building authority of Prague 7 subsequently ordered its demolition at the end of May. However, the National Heritage Institute disagreed with it, for example. The Department of Heritage Care imposed a fine on the city hall and the former tenant, the Apex-Club association, due to the poor condition of the stadium. The demolition was completed on June 28.
    Several generations of hockey players and figure skaters grew up in the stadium, among them the famous figure skater Ája Vrzáňová trained here. Overall, Štvanice was the venue for four hockey world championships, in the years 1933, 1938, 1947, and 1959.