The court also confirmed a suspended sentence for the third defendant, Petr Kanawka, who participated in the importation of ayahuasca.
A Polish man and woman were sentenced to eight years in prison for hosting ayahuasca ceremonies at their home in the Czech Republic.
The psychedelic renaissance has helped soften some parts of the world's restrictions on psychedelic plants, but ayahuasca ceremonies are still being prosecuted in the Czech Republic as a serious offence. In Poland, last week a couple was sentenced to eight years in prison for holding ayahuasca ceremonies at their home.
The Kordys couple, Jaroslav and Karolína, were arrested in October 2020 at their home in Heřmanice near Oder, where they were conducting shamanic rituals. Since then, they have been charged with drug trafficking and possession.
From 2015 to October last year, the trio imported ayahuasca from Peru into the Czech Republic. The ayahuasca they imported contains the hallucinogenic drug DMT, which is banned in the Czech Republic. Over a five-year period, the couple reportedly collected over $400,000 from clients who participated in their ceremonies.
The court also confirmed a suspended sentence for Petr Kanawka, one of the defendants, for participating in the importation of ayahuasca.
President of the Czech Senate Vladimír Hendrych supports the unusually harsh punishment for the couple. According to Hendrych, the suggested sentence is 8 to 12 years. In our opinion, both committed the same act as accomplices, he says. There is not a single reason for any of them to be favoured.
He stated that there are no restrictions on sentencing below the lower limit of the suggested sentence. He mentioned the long-term crimes and the large number of clients who attended ceremonies as reasons why they received long sentences. The seizure of their assets was waived.
According to Czech anti-drug coordinator Jindřich Vobořil, DMT should not be considered an illegal drug. “When witches were burned in the Middle Ages, people also believed that it was fair. A media image has been created here about certain substances, and whoever touches them is like a mass murderer. But it’s not like that,” he said.
According to Viktor Mravčík, a drug counsellor adviser, the Kordys’ case proves how prohibition has been warped beyond recognition. In Mravčík’s view, the Kordys are political prisoners of the drug war, victims of a sickening perversion of the prohibition system.
There is little or no health or social damage compared to, for example, alcohol, cigarettes, or heroin, and their addiction potential is practically non-existent.
Mravčík believes that if psychedelics are taken and used properly, they have proven therapeutic effectiveness and enormous future potential in a variety of psychiatric disorders.
According to the Kordys’ account, no DMT was added to the ayahuasca brew served at the ceremonial ceremony, which was made exclusively with the yagé vine (Banisteriopsis caapi). According to Jaroslav, the shaman of the ceremony, he consumed ayahuasca, but he says he did not hand out the banned substance to the participants.
Wieslaw Firla, the Kordys’ lawyer, said that they disagree with the verdict and are prepared to fight. He added that they are prepared to appeal to the Supreme Court. “Jaroslav thinks that he and Karolina will eventually get justice, and he thanks everyone for their support.”
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