Defence Ministry joins CASA planes case as damaged party

Prague, Sept 11 (CTK) - The Czech Defence Ministry has joined the criminal proceedings in the case of the purchase of CASA aircraft for the Czech military as the damaged party, the ministry's spokesman Jan Pejsek confirmed for CTK the information carried by the Lidovky.cz and IHNED.cz servers Tuesday.

He recalled that the police put the damage at 658.5 million crowns.

Pejsek said the ministry was unable to quantify the damage because of lack of information.

He said the Defence Ministry cooperates with the police in the investigation into the case and that it has given the detectives all necessary documents.

The police recomnended to the ministry that it join the criminal proceedings as the damaged party. The ministry decided to follow the recommendation after it had legal analysis made, Pejsek said.

The police said the ministry will be able to look into the case file on condition that it joins the criminal proceedings, among others, Pejsek said.

Some experts and media say the purchases of the Spanish-made CASA transport planes was suspicious and overpriced.

The anti-corruption police blame former defence minister Vlasta Parkanova (TOP 09) of breach of trust and abuse of public office.

The Chamber of Deputies, of which Parkanova is a member, released her for criminal prosecution in summer. She resigned as deputy chairwoman of the lower house in reaction to the decision.

The government approved the purchase of four CASA C-295M planes in April 2009. A part of the contract for 3.5 billion crowns was to be a swap of one plane for five L-159 combat planes that the Czech air force does not use.

The Czech military, that preferred other aircraft, took over the CASAs in 2010. Their operation was long accompanied by various problems.