RANDY BLYTHE Wants To Return To Czech Republic For Trial, Says His Attorney

LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe's Czech attorney Martin Radvan spoke to Radio Prague about the singer's arrest in Prague last month on manslaughter charges.

Blythe, 41, is accused of causing the fatal injury that occurred at LAMB OF GOD's May 24, 2010 show in Prague. The singer allegedly either pushed or struck a 19-year-old fan named Daniel Nosek — a guitarist in a local metal band — and that person died almost a month later of bleeding in the brain.

In a closed session, which was originally scheduled for July 19 but took place earlier than planned, a panel of municipal judges reportedly dismissed the Prague State Attorney's Office complaint against Blythe's release on bail. In addition, the court increased Blythe's bail from $200,000 — which has already been paid — to $400,000, which is said to be equivalent to twice Randy's annual income.

"We are now waiting for his release because the band has already collected the additional 200,000 dollars, and only due to long travel time between the Prague Municipal Court and the court for Prague 8, we are still waiting," Radvan said. "Otherwise, he should have already been released."

When asked if Blythe will have to stay in the Czech Republic or if he will be allowed to leave the country upon his release from jail, Radvan said, "Everything indicates that he will be allowed to travel home. But he will have to come back either for further investigation or the trial, and that's what he wants to do. As a world-renowned artist, in a specific genre of music of course, he cannot afford to simply disappear. This is a wrong assumption by the Czech police and the Prague municipal prosecutor who still believe there is a possibility he will disappear and never show up again. But there would be posters with his picture all around the world, and if he wants to continue performing, he will have to return. And he wants to return because he believes he is not guilty of anything he has been charged with."

On the topic of why no one made any attempt to approach them after the incident — not even the police or the family members of the fan — in the two years following the concert in question, Radvan said, "I really don't know. Let me put it this way: nobody was expecting that, unfortunately, this young man Daniel Nosek would die a month after the concert. His father then spoke to the police who launched an investigation and called several witnesses who were at that concert. They also approached the U.S. Department Of Justice and asked them to take part in the investigation, which the department refused to do. Refusing to do so, they did not notify anyone from the band or the management, so no one really knew that investigation was underway, which I think is not something the U.S. Department Of Justice can be proud of.”

On how Randy Blythe is coping with being in jail and whether it's true that he is teaching his Mongolian cellmate English and picking up some Mongolian in return:

Radvan: "Randy Blythe is an intelligent man, he writes songs and now in jail, he has started writing a book. As regards his Mongolian 'neighbor,' Mr. Blythe is not really learning Mongolian from him all the time; we just bought the guy a book of Sudoku so that Randy has a little more time to do things he wants to do."

On whether Randy has complained about the conditions in jail:

Radvan: "Not at all. He says he is being treated in a fair way, and he has no complaints whatsoever about the guards or anybody in the Pankrác prison. He realizes he cannot do anything about the fact that the prison is old... it's not a place where he would like to spend more time, but well, that's how it is."

You can listen to the Radio Prague report using the audio player below.

Radio Prague report (audio):