Dominik Feri

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Dominik Feri
Dominik Feri – Show Jana Krause (10-11).png
Feri in 2017
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
21 October 2017 – 31 May 2021
Personal details
Born (1996-07-11) 11 July 1996 (age 25)
Kadaň, Czech Republic
Political partyTOP 09 (2015-2021)
Alma materCharles University

Dominik Feri (born 11 July 1996) is a Czech former politician who was a Member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2017 to 2021. Elected at the age of 21, he is the youngest and the first black member of the Chamber of Deputes in the history of the Czech Republic.

Early life[]

Feri was born in Kadaň, northwestern Bohemia, and grew up in Teplice District. His mother is from eastern Bohemia, and Feri is also partly of Ethiopian origin.[1] From 2007 to 2015 he studied in a grammar school in Teplice. His first appearance in media was because of his public activities in Teplice.[1] In 2015 he became a student of Faculty of Law at the Charles University in Prague.

Political career[]

During the municipal elections in 2014 he was an independent candidate on the candidate list of liberal-conservative party TOP 09 to the Council of Representatives in Teplice, although he wasn't elected, he became a first deputy candidate for that office, despite of his young age. After the leader of the candidate list Petr Měsíc resigned, Feri took the office and became one of nine members of City Council, which was led by mayor Jaroslav Kubera.[2] In May 2015 he entered TOP 09 Party.[1]

After the unsuccessful candidacy in 2016 Czech regional elections he was listed on the last place of the candidate list in District of Prague in 2017 Czech legislative election. On 21 October, he was elected to the office to the Chamber of Deputies.[3] German magazine Die Welt considered Feri to be a successful and promising pro-European politician.[4]

In April 2019, Feri was attacked at a wine tasting event in Boršice, Moravia. Feri alleged that the attackers shouted at him "niggers do not belong in politics." He was taken to hospital with injury to his backside which he suffered as he was pushed against a parapet.[5][6]

Rape accusations[]

"I vehemently refuse false allegetions of sexual violence that have recently popped up, mostly anonymously in social media (...) As a politician I must expect personal attacks and also having to face a campaigning which may not always be fair."[7]

In late May 2021, he was accused of sexual assault and rape by eight women, whose names were kept secret by the publishing online far left website  [cs] and  [cs]. This story was published in the two online newspapers after a discussion was started by an anonymous Twitter account, where many participants wrote about Feri being aggressive to women, in many cases demanding sexual intercourse. As was stated in Czech media, these alleged assaults and sexual offense cases took place between 2015 and 2020. A number of unnamed sources cited in the articles noted that Feri's behavior has been known in his social circles for an extended period of time.[8] Feri announced his resignation and withdrawal from the 2021 Czech legislative election.[9] Czech Police have already started an investigation regarding the case.[10] Feri also left TOP09, his political party.[11]

More women came forward after the initial articles were published. This led to further allegations of sexual misconduct by Feri being published in early June 2021 by the two dailys. Names of the accusers were again withheld. While the accusers in the previous article described use of force, one of the new accusers alleged use of a date rape drug by Feri on her. The testimonies portrayed a pattern of behavior whereby Feri, who had over 1.1 million online followers, would contact young women, some of them underage, often living far away from Prague, through social media for a friendly meeting or a party. The girls, dazzled by his VIP persona, would voluntarily accept the invitation, sometimes after weeks-long persuasion. Initially friendly meetings with Feri, who was well known for his support for Me Too movement, with talks focused on politics or societal issues, would allegedly later turn towards sexual violence, ending either in alleged sexual assault, rape or successful escape.[12]

Personal life[]

Feri plays accordion and piano.[1] He stated that his opinions are close to those of the Czech Pirate Party.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Aleš Horáček, Roman Nešetřil. Nejmladší radní: Považuji se za Čecha jak poleno, jen mám víc vlasů Zdroj (in Czech). idnes.cz. Mladá fronta DNES. Published on 14 November 2014.
  2. ^ "V Teplicích se radním za TOP 09 zřejmě stane osmnáctiletý student". idnes.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Nejmladší poslanec Feri: Nepočítal jsem s tím, voliče nechci zklamat". idnes.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Let's make Europe great again!". welt.de (in German). Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  5. ^ von der Burchard, Hans. "Czech MP hospitalized following alleged racial attack". Politico. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  6. ^ WELT (2019-04-21). "Dominik Feri: Tschechischer Parlamentarier nach rassistischem Angriff in Klinik". Retrieved 2019-04-22.
  7. ^ "Sexuální násilí popírám. Za nevhodné chování se stydím, uvedl Feri". idnes.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  8. ^ Rychlíková, Apolena; Zelenka, Jakub. ""Chování Dominika Feriho je veřejné tajemství." Ženy popsaly traumatizující zkušenosti s mladým politikem". a2larm.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Feri po obviněních ze sexuálního násilí rezignoval. Nebude ani kandidovat". seznamzpravy.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  10. ^ Fraňková, Ruth. "Dominik Feri's resignation sparks heated debate on sexual harassment". radio.cz. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  11. ^ Beranová, Klára. "Dominik Feri vystoupil z TOP 09". novinky.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  12. ^ Rychlíková, Apolena; Zelenka, Jakub. ""Další ženy promluvily o traumatizujících zážitcích s Dominikem Ferim. Problémy měla i nezletilá" [More women talk about tratizing experiences with Feri. Even underage was affected.]". a2larm.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 10 June 2021.
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