President Miloš Zeman pardoned in 2022 three people convicted of importing ayahuasca.Polish spouses Jaroslaw and Karolina Kordys were sentenced to eight years in prison for the case, while Petr Kanawka, who was involved in importing the ayahuasca drink, made from a decoction of lianas, was on probation as he was not found with them in the police intervention they had in 2020. Jaroslaw spent 2 years in custody and Karolina 5 months.
The President of the Republic pardoned the pardoned spouses from the pending sentences of unconditional imprisonment, indefinite expulsion from the territory of the Czech Republic and confiscation of property. The third pardoned spouse was pardoned from the sentence of conditional imprisonment and expulsion from the Czech Republic for a period of three years, said the spokesman of the head of state, Jiří Ovčáček.
«In his decision he mainly took into account the disproportionate amount of the sentences, which did not correspond to the degree of social dangerousness of the pardoned facts,» he added.
The president took into account a number of recommendations, such as those of the national coordinator of anti-drug policy Jindřich Vobořil or those of the Prague psychiatrist and expert Pavel Bém of the ODS, which dealt with anti-drug policy.
The president thus granted his 22nd, 23rd and 24th pardons. During his presidency he declared that he would only grant pardons in a strictly limited range of humanitarian cases.
According to the indictment, since 2015 the couple Jaroslaw and Karolina Kordys received ayahuasca concentrate sent from Peru. According to the court, they gradually imported more than 200 kilograms of concentrate to the Czech Republic, from which they diluted it to obtain about 300 liters of the drink.
On October 15, 2020, Czech police and customs officers raided a home outside the town of Nový Jičín in the Czech Republic and arrested a Polish couple, Jarosław and Karolina Kordys, who were allegedly holding ayahuasca ceremonies. Dressed in combat fatigues, the officers burst into the home with guns drawn and took the couple away in handcuffs, as shown in the police video:
https://youtu.be/h52n25BjzH4?si=SpGiQME4hzifwBs9
They were accused of being a criminal group working together, distributing a «drug» called ‘ayahuasca’.’
A statement issued by the Czech Customs Office accused Jarosław and Karolina Kordys, and another Polish national who was not present during the raid, of illegally importing “at least 146 kilograms” of an ayahuasca concentrate into the Czech Republic from Peru since 2015. The group allegedly concealed the ayahuasca in packages that were declared at customs as natural dyes and tinctures.
The statement alleged that the group provided ayahuasca for a fee to participants in secret ceremonies and used the proceeds to purchase a house in the Czech Republic. According to the Czech Republic's General Directorate of Customs, the group is being prosecuted for «committing a particularly serious crime of illicit manufacture and other handling of poisonous narcotics, punishable by ten to eighteen years» imprisonment.".
In a statement released by Lukas Kordys about Zrzutka's crowdfunding campaign , organized to raise funds among European friends to cover the couple's legal expenses and publicize their arrest, it is estimated that bail for Jarosław and Karolina Kordys ranged from $26,510 to $53,020 each . Lawyers from ICEERS' Ayahuasca Defense Fund (ADF), assisted the Kordys' lawyers with legal strategies for their case, asserted that this police action is part of a broader trend of increasing arrests and prosecutions of ayahuasca purveyors across Europe in recent years. Observers say this case could represent the first time that ayahuasca trafficking, or the performance of ayahuasca ceremonies, has been criminally prosecuted in the Czech Republic.
Use and legality of ayahuasca in the Czech Republic:
According to Dr. Miroslav Horák, social and cultural anthropologist and author of the book » Ayahuasca in the Czech Republic » (2019) , ayahuasca has been consumed in the Czech Republic since 2001. It is generally consumed in rituals performed by members of Amazonian ethnic groups or non-Czech Neo-Czech groups, as well as in religious ceremonies in the church of Santo Daime . Due to the complex legal situation of ayahuasca in the country, these activities are usually carried out clandestinely and discreetly.
As in many European countries, Horák points out in a legal analysis that the situation of ayahuasca in the Czech Republic is complex, both for chemical and contextual reasons. In 1971, the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances classified DMT - the psychoactive component of ayahuasca - as a Schedule I drug, which prohibited its possession and distribution in most countries of the world, including the Czech Republic.
However, the Czech Republic's position on ayahuasca is not so clear. Ayahuasca is traditionally prepared by decoction of the plants Psychotria viridis and Banisteriopsis caapi . The leaves of P. viridis contain DMT. The liana of B. caapi contains β-carbolinic alkaloids, monoamine oxidase type A inhibitors. The synergistic effect of these two chemical compounds catalyzes the psychedelic experience of ayahuasca.
The β-carboline alkaloids are legal in the Czech Republic, as is the cultivation and possession of plants containing DMT. However, it is illegal to possess more than 0.6 grams of DMT in crystal or powder form (i.e., synthetic DMT), or to possess more than half a liter of an ayahuasca brew containing DMT, according to a 2014 ruling by the Czech Supreme Court.
The distribution of ayahuasca containing DMT is also considered a crime, as the Czech criminal code does not distinguish between the distribution of ayahuasca and other psychotropic substances. Drug distribution in the Czech Republic is generally punishable by one to five years imprisonment. In exceptional cases, such as when minors are involved, significant economic benefits are obtained or international criminal organizations are involved, longer sentences of two to ten, eight to twelve or ten to eighteen years may be imposed. The fact that Czech Customs presented a possible sentence of ten to eighteen years in its statement indicates the seriousness with which it views the alleged crimes committed by Jarosław and Karolina Kordys.
During research for his book, Horák claims to have interviewed several facilitators of clandestine ayahuasca ceremonies in the Czech Republic. «All the people I interviewed took the management and organization of these sessions very seriously,» Horák tells Lucid News. «They don't want to get in trouble with the authorities.».
Until the night of the October raid, ayahuasca suppliers in the Czech Republic had managed to avoid problems with the authorities. The question then is: why now?
Lack of discretion:
“Personally, I am very surprised by the case,” Horák says. “However, from my informants I know that it was only a matter of time before the uncovered activities of those Poles were [prosecuted].”.
Horák suspects that this crackdown by the Czech government is due to the lack of discretion of the Kordys' group, Tribu Nýdek. Horák claims that the group announced its sessions publicly on Facebook and on its website.
Tribu Nýdek's website is currently inactive, but an archived version can be accessed at Wayback Machine. Horák also provided a video promoting the group's activities. Horák claims that others in the Czech Republic's underground ayahuasca communities told him that they warned the group to be more discreet, as it would likely result in prosecution.
“It's very difficult to pinpoint whether what they were doing was wrong or not,” Horák says. “I'm just describing the perspective from the outside.”.
In a letter written by Jarosław Kordys to his mother while in detention, posted on the Zrzutka crowdfunding page, Kordys says he was unaware that Czech authorities consider ayahuasca a dangerous drug.
“Everything we did was with the sincere intention of helping people, and we had no idea that ayahuasca was such a serious problem in the Czech Republic or that it was considered a hard drug, which can carry such severe penalties,” Kordys writes. “I hope that we will soon be able to demonstrate scientific evidence that will absolve us of all charges and help to better understand the impact of the therapy on the lives of people who suffer trauma, are alcoholics or drug addicts. We have helped so many people and maybe now they will help us.”.
Horák says he was surprised to learn that the other ayahuasca facilitators he came in contact with were not necessarily opposed to the arrest of Jarosław and Karolina Kordys. «They were saying, ‘These people should be punished because they are giving a bad image of what we do.’ They were saying that they are not interested in taking care of them,» Horák says.
A trend in the repression of ayahuasca across Europe
The arrest of Jarosław and Karolina Kordys is part of a trend of increasing ayahuasca prosecutions across Europe in recent years, according to Natalia Rebollo, an attorney with ADF, a program of the International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service (ICEERS) .
Natalia Rebollo, ADF attorney stated that the case of Jaroslav and Karolina Kordys by the Czech authorities followed a pattern observed in other ayahuasca cases in Europe. «This case is very similar to others we have had in the past, where all the cultural richness and all the pharmacological properties of ayahuasca are reduced to the DMT molecule,» says Rebollo.
According to Rebollo, educating judges and prosecutors about the differences between synthetic DMT, which is normally the substance that is regulated in these countries, and ayahuasca, which normally exists in a state of legal limbo, is the first component of a three-pronged legal strategy that ADF advocates in cases like this one.
The second component requests evidence describing the percentage of DMT present in ayahuasca, which is usually low. «So low,» Rebollo adds, «that continuing with the criminal process is nonsense.».
“Even if there are, say, 146 kilograms of ayahuasca, we need to know the exact percentage of DMT,” says Rebollo. “DMT is also an endogenous substance. And DMT is found naturally in many plant substances in different countries. If we consider this plant substance as 146 kilograms of DMT, then we should consider withdrawing from the market many citrus fruits that contain DMT, many animals that also contain DMT. There is a difference between synthetic DMT [...] and plant DMT. It is crucial that judges and prosecutors understand that this is just a confusion or a misunderstanding.”.
The third component argues that ayahuasca does not represent a danger to public health. «On the contrary,» says Rebollo, «scientific evidence has shown that it is anything but a danger to public health.».
Rebollo says that the human rights dimension of the Kordy's detention must also be taken into account, since it appears that the couple was surveilled without their knowledge, according to the authorities' examination of the intercepted packages.
Everyone who has had the opportunity to meet Karolina and Jarek knows that they are two wonderful, good and kind souls who gave up their traditional lifestyle to help and improve other people's lives,” reads a statement on Zrzutka's crowdfunding page. “With their wonderful music, presence, experience and willingness to provide holistic healing for both body and soul, many people have repeatedly witnessed the wonders that happened! Sick people, addicts and people with depression: everyone got a second chance for a wonderful life.”.
The statement issued by the Czech Customs Directorate presented contradictory views on the value of ayahuasca from the perspective of the Czech authorities. «Under the influence of ayahuasca, the mind may be capable of deeper introspection and lasting memories may emerge. It is a drug whose consumption has negative effects and has an impact on human health,» the statement said.
The arrest of Jarosław and Karolina Kordys has been covered by the Czech press and caught the attention of the Czech Psychedelic Society (CZEPS), which published an open letter in response to their arrest. «As a society of experts with knowledge of the subject, the nature of the group of substances cited and the context in which it is used, we must express our deep concern about the misleading rhetoric of the Customs Administration,» the letter reads. The authors add that «so far, no negative effects of the substance on human health have been identified; studies suggest otherwise.».
The signatories of the letter from the Czech Psychedelic Society argue that while DMT is not legal in the Czech Republic, they oppose the imposition of lengthy prison sentences for Jarosław and Karolina Kordys and point out that research into ayahuasca use is being sponsored by the Czech National Institute of Mental Health (NÚDZ).
“The substance has been repeatedly shown to have no addictive potential or health side effects, and research into its use in mental health and personal development settings is currently supported worldwide,” write the letter's signatories, who call for revisions to the United Nations Convention on Narcotic Drugs and Czech laws regarding ayahuasca use.
“The trend of decriminalization of harmless psychedelic substances in the world has already begun, so we hope that our court will take this into account when deciding the amount of penalties for the detainees,” the authors write.
The tension between the many emerging psychedelic communities that view ayahuasca as a healing medicine and the perspective of some authorities that ayahuasca is a dangerous drug will continue to play out in the courts as ayahuasca's popularity increases in regions of the world far removed from its traditional context.
The case against Jarosław and Karolina Kordys, like other recent legal actions targeting ayahuasca suppliers, presented an opportunity to reconcile that tension.
Two years later a survey of the Czech population showed a large majority in favor of the pardon.
Interview with Karolina before the pardon:
Journalist : What do you think of the news that the Czech president is going to pardon you?
Karolina Kordys : I am very happy and grateful. From the first moment I could not believe it and I was sure that someone was joking. I have no words to describe that incredible feeling that finally this whole nightmare will end; that we will be free again. It is a miracle I was praying for.
Could you talk about yourselves, your background, how you became ayahuasca healers in the Czech Republic, what kind of training you received and who was your teacher?
We are Polish, Karolina and Jaroslaw. I study psychology and have a musical background. Jarek worked as a manager in the financial department. He was not satisfied with the luxurious life he was leading. We have been searching for the meaning of our lives.
After her first ayahuasca ceremony, she changed her way of thinking, she began to notice things she had not noticed before and to reflect on her priorities. He decided to quit his job, went to Peru and there he learned about healing plants from shamans. His teachers were Don Enrique Lopez, from a center in the deep jungle outside Iquitos, and Don Jose Campos, from Pucallpa. Every year we would travel to the Amazon with the objective of making special diets with healing plants called «master plants». These plants are very powerful and have a long list of benefits for the body and mind. The shamans say that these plants can teach.
The diets are very demanding and last from one week to several months. It is a sacred time alone with the plants and their wisdom. Together we visited some tribes and met many masters in the jungle, where we found inspiration for our work and our music. Jaroslaw discovered that he wanted to help people heal and find inner peace, so he started offering different kinds of retreats and ceremonies (cacao, kambo, ayahuasca, snuff, sweat lodge, relaxation concerts, meditations). I met Jaroslaw through a mutual friend, and little by little I started to get to know his world. I liked it very much, because I understood that helping and supporting others is also my mission, since nowadays we all need some kind of help. We chose to live in Costa Rica because of the law.
There was a plan to create a meditation center here, a beautiful healing space for people, where they could find traditional healing methods, release their problems, relax and connect with nature. We planned to have donkeys, horses, chickens and many other animals. My dream was always to create an animal therapy center for children. We planned to create special quiet rooms for meditations called vipassana, where one can stay 10 days away from the world and cell phones, and concentrate only on meditation. We wanted to be self-sufficient in our house, which we bought in the Czech Republic. We also planned to expand our garden to have even more organic vegetables and fruits. We had even more plans for the future; it was all about service to others. We formed a band called Cura Sana, which we shared during retreats and our concerts (three CDs with shamanic music).
Could you explain to those who are not familiar with the subject what an ayahuasca ceremony is like and what your role as healers is? How do you help people?
An ayahuasca ceremony usually begins in the evening and lasts about six hours. The meeting takes place in a well-prepared space where everyone feels safe. First, we explain the important rules and how the ceremony will proceed. We sit in a circle, share our intentions, meditate together and then start drinking the medicine. Music is an important part of the ceremony; it functions as a tool that we use for different purposes. We use special traditional shamanic songs, called «ícaros», designed to navigate the energy and the process. Our range of instruments is wide: shamanic flutes, drums, Tibetan singing bowls, gongs, rattles, guitar, charango, Celtic harp, etc. All of these instruments can greatly influence the mood of the participants.
The effects after drinking ayahuasca are usually diarrhea and vomiting. It is the way the body cleanses itself and also works on a mental level: it clears the mind and emotions and generates greater awareness. All this helps to release traumas and deep subconscious problems.
The role of the shaman/guide is to help navigate the process. Everything must be done with care, patience and an open heart, and it is best if supported by medical practitioners.
After each session, we had a «sharing circle» where we could talk about experiences and find the missing answers. The ceremony guides must take care of everything, not only physically, but also spiritually. The guide accompanies people and accompanies them even to the darkest places, when necessary. The experiences bring greater understanding, clarity and wisdom, and should be integrated into the person's life afterwards. It is perfect when someone does the therapy at the same time, as it is a good tool to open up and realize what needs to be seen or released.
Do you think ayahuasca can be useful only when used in a traditional ritual context, or can it become a modern medicine without the traditional context?
I think ayahuasca is very useful and has enormous healing potential. In my opinion, both options could be excellent. The shamanic context is powerful and shows the deep meaning of the tradition itself and the wisdom of the plants from the spiritual level. It is pure and pure. It had a beginning here. From the other side, everything evolves and changes. New methods and forms will emerge and mold into new forms. It is very important to note that the differences on all levels are great and visible between the minds of the Europeans and the indigenous people.
I believe that ayahuasca itself is trying to find its own ways for each type of mind and human being. It is already happening. People in Europe and elsewhere have started to work with it in a new and unique way, in a safe and controlled environment, under psychotherapeutic supervision, which I consider excellent. During my stays in the jungle, I discovered that the typical shamanic style of ceremonies was not well selected for me and did not meet my expectations. My needs are clearly defined; I know exactly what suits me, especially in the context of such a profound psychedelic experience. There is a level that I must ensure; otherwise, I cannot open myself fully to the experience.
I believe that many people like me were not able to discover the deeper layers of their consciousness during ceremonies with indigenous healers. What was missing was contact with someone who could guarantee special attention and psychotherapy. My mind works on different frequencies than someone raised in the jungle, and that is why I believe it is beneficial to use ayahuasca according to needs, mentality and environment. I prefer to understand every detail of my experience, something I did not find working with the indigenous shamans. In my opinion, ayahuasca can become a modern medicine without the traditional context, as perhaps for Europeans it does not have a major meaning. Ayahuasca will bring to the person exactly what he or she needs for healing and understanding, at least if it is treated with respect and responsibility. It cannot be used just for money, but with the deep intention to change, heal and increase consciousness.
Many people think that ayahuasca can only be used in the Amazon region by local healers, and that importing it to Europe is a bad idea. What do you think about this?
I do not agree with this. I have seen fraud, disrespect and abuse with ayahuasca in the Amazon. Many locals treat it as a commodity to exchange, where only money counts. However, in Europe I saw sacrifice, esteem, deep devotion and tribute to ayahuasca. As we traveled through the Amazon, we realized that local people often did not know what ayahuasca was. I had the feeling that many people were afraid of it and did not need it for their spiritual growth. So I came to the conclusion that ayahuasca should also be shared in other parts of the world where people need it. Many people in Europe do not have enough money or time to travel to the Amazon and participate in diets or ceremonies, and many cannot go for health reasons, but those are precisely the people who need it the most. In my opinion, sharing medicine, anywhere in the world, with those who need it, should be allowed and available, at least if it is done with respect and wisdom.
How did they recruit people for their ceremonies? What kind of people came and with what problems?
Jaroslaw provided a multilingual website through which people registered. Those who chose to attend suffered from depression, drug, alcohol or nicotine addictions, various illnesses such as allergies, migraines, post-traumatic stress disorder, Crohn's disease, cancer, obsessive-compulsive disorder, postpartum depression, etc. Some were healthy, but unfortunately unhappy and looking for meaning in their lives, a better understanding of themselves and the world. Many had spent years in psychotherapy and taken psychotropics that did not help them at all. Before the ceremony we always asked about intentions and when we received the answer that someone was just looking for another high, we flatly refused. Ayahuasca is for serious work.
How did the police catch you? Did someone turn you in? Can you explain how the police treated you?
In less than a year, customs retained three of our ayahuasca packages (with DMT). Probably at that moment it all started. We were under police surveillance for 10 months. On October 15, at 6 a.m., while we were still sleeping, a special unit broke into our house in Costa Rica. They smashed the door with a crowbar. At first we were shocked and convinced they were thieves. They treated us like the worst villains. They handcuffed us and we couldn't even talk to each other. After a long house search, we were arrested, where I stayed for 5 months and Jarek for 2 years.
Any message for people who are interested in trying ayahuasca?
Yes, you should definitely look for a good recommended place and a facilitator who has really helped others. A consultation about the state of health (illnesses, medications) is absolutely necessary. The time before the ceremony should be special, as proper preparation includes several levels: physical (special diet), mental (meditation, relaxation) and spiritual (why I want to do it/what I need to change and understand).
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