Prague, March 1 (CTK) – The Prague Regional Court has returned the second branch of the case of the former influential politician, David Rath, which concerns manipulation of public orders, to the police to complete the investigation due to unlawful wiretapping, the public Czech Radio (CRo) reported yesterday.
The CRo refers to the court’s resolution from January.
Detectives have proposed that nine people and eight firms, including the Metrostav big building company, be charged with manipulating public orders of the Central Bohemia Region and regional hospitals.
According to the police, the accused in the second branch asked for the bribes of 66.4 million crowns of which they accepted 3.4 million crowns.
The suspicious contracts for more than 700 million crowns in total were for the reconstruction and construction of pavilions of the hospitals in Kladno, Mlada Boleslav and Kolin and supplies of ambulances to the Central Bohemian Emergency Service.
Last October, the Prague High Court also cancelled the verdict in the first branch of the case of Rath and other ten people due to the unlawful use of wiretappings. It returned the case to the Regional Court that cannot use the wiretapping recordings as evidence in new proceedings.
The Regional Court sentenced Rath, CSSD lawmaker (2006-2012), Central Bohemia governor (2008-2012) and health minister (2005-2006), to 8.5 years in prison and the forfeiture of some 20 million crowns for corruption in July 2015.
“After assessing the respective wiretapping orders and recordings of the telecommunication operation, the Regional Court concluded (in harmony with the High Court in Prague) that these orders were unlawful,” the CRo cites the court’s decision.
State attorneys can file a complaint against the Regional Court’s decision. The Prague High Court will assess it.
Both courts have agreed that the wiretapping orders lack considerations about the well-founded character of the proposal or an explanation why they were approved for the longest possible period.
Eleven people were charged in the first branch of the case in which bribes were related to the modernisation of Central Bohemian hospitals and repairs of the Bustehrad chateau.
Justice Minister Robert Pelikan (ANO) has filed a complaint with the Supreme Court against the High Court’s decision to cancel the verdict in the Rath case’s first branch.
($1=25.497 crowns)
