Brno, Sept 2 (CTK) – Czech Supreme State Attorney Pavel Zeman has applied for an appellate review in lobbyist Marek Dalik’s case, saying the four-year sentence is below the common rate for the given legal qualification, his spokesman Petr Maly told CTK on Friday.
Dalik was given the sentence in a case connected with the purchase of Pandur vehicles for the Czech military.
He started to serve the sentence in Prague’s Ruzyne prison on Thursday.
Zeman’s step was reported by the public Czech Television on Friday.
Dalik himself previously filed a recourse with the Supreme Court while this cannot postpone the service of the punishment.
The High Court in Prague has found Dalik guilty of an attempted fraud with a high damage. A lower-court sent him to prison for five years and imposed a fine on him.
The given legal qualification carries a sentence from five to ten years in prison.
The police started dealing with the case based on the testimony of a former employee of Steyr, the maker of the Pandurs, Stephan Szcucs.
He said in March 2011 Dalik asked for a bribe of 18 million euros at an informal meeting in a Prague restaurant in November 2007, pretending having close ties with representatives of the Czech government and being able to influence their decision-making and the Pandurs order.
The court sent Dalik to prison because he cheated when he pretended being able to influence the order by which he attempted to get money from the armament makers.
On the contrary, it was not proven that he asked for the bribe at the request of anyone from the government.
Dalik pleaded non guilty from the very beginning.
The purchase of Pandurs for 20.8 billion crowns was approved by the left-wing government of Jiri Paroubek (Social Democrats, CSSD) in 2006. At the end of 2007, Topolanek’s government said Steyr had violated the conditions of the purchase and it withdrew from it. In 2008 Topolanek’s government put up a new tender, within which the Czech army bought 107 Pandurs for 14.4 billion crowns in 2009.
