Vrbetice Blasts Case May Be Halted If Suspects Unidentified - Czech Prosecutor General

�PRAGUE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th May, 2021) The case of the explosion at the ammunition depot in the Czech village of Vrbetice may be postponed if the investigators are unable to interrogate the suspects, or their presence cannot be ensured, Prosecutor General Pavel Zeman said on Tuesday.

"From the very beginning, I claim that the investigation has only one version and that it cannot be ruled out that the criminal proceedings will end with the postponement of the case if we fail to interrogate both suspects or ensure their presence. This is the legal procedure," Zeman said.

The official added that he was proud of the way the Vrbetice incident was handled in the country.

On April 17, the Czech Republic announced the expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats on suspicion of being officers of Russia's special services. Prague explained that the move was prompted by "a reasonable suspicion" that Russian military intelligence officers had something to do with the October 2014 explosion at an ammunition depot in Vrbetice.

Meanwhile, the Czech police were said to put on their wanted list Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, suspected by London of carrying out a nerve agent attack on former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK's Salisbury in March 2018.

However, Czech prosecutor Martin Malus refuted the claims of Prague's international warrants on Russian nationals, indicating that the relevant warrant was previously issued by the United Kingdom.

Moscow has responded to Prague by expelling 20 Czech diplomats and slammed the Czech Republic's claims of Russia's involvement in blasts in Vrbetice as groundless. The Russian Foreign Ministry has pointed out that the Czech government earlier blamed the blasts that killed two Czech nationals on companies that owned the warehouses.