Dominik Feri had a promising career as a Czech politician lined up, and as the country’s first Black MP, he was promoted as someone who could dispel stereotypes and pave the way for more minority politicians. However, his political career fell apart in 2021 when he was arrested for rape and sexual harassment.
Now, the former politician, who once was named eighth out of 28 politicians in Politico’s Class of 2019, has been convicted of raping two women, including a minor, and attempting to rape a third.
Following the allegations, he resigned from his MP position in the Chamber of Deputies in May 2021. On Nov. 2, 2023, he was convicted in District Court for Prague 3 on two counts of rape and one attempted rape, and sentenced to three years in prison. However, he has appealed the conviction, and his trial is expected to move forward in the appeals court.
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During his initial trial, he attempted to block the process through an appeal action, and when that failed, he ended up in the hospital after a suicide attempt, according to Czech news outlet Novinky.cz.
Feri had over 700,000 followers on Instagram at one time, and in 2016, he described himself as “crown sunshine man” in the media and supported the admission of refugees to Czechia. However, at the time, he insisted he would offer no compromises towards those refugees who come to Czechia and are found guilty of rape.
Politico gushed over Feri in 2019, naming him a “dreamer” and one of the “28 people who will shape Europe in the year ahead,” with the publication writing: “Feri isn’t just the youngest parliamentarian in the country’s history. He’s the first black one — and conspicuously so. He wears his hair in a bushy afro and enjoys playing Fats Waller-style jazz piano in local clubs.”
Politico also wrote about the alleged troubles he faced as a Black Czech politician, writing: “It’s not easy being young and black in the Czech Republic, where the number of residents of African descent remains minuscule and racial intolerance is widespread.”
Feri also told Politico that he faces “constant mockery and threats by some people. Or, even worse, many people won’t even take you seriously.”
Feri was born in the Czech Republic on July 11, 1996. His mother was Czech, and his father had ancestors from Ethiopia. In 2017, he ran in last place on the list of politicians for the TOP 09 party in Prague. However, with 15,003 preferential votes, he came in second place among candidates and, at the age of 21, won the title of the youngest member of parliament in the Czech Republic.
