Prague, Nov 22 (CTK) – A Prague district court found Jana Necasova (previously Nagyova), wife of ex-PM Petr Necas and the former head of his office, and three intelligence officers guilty in the case of abuse of the military intelligence service and imposed suspended sentences on them on Wednesday.
The verdict is not valid. The intelligence officers appealed it on the spot, while Necasova’s defence lawyer and the state attorney took some time for considering an appeal.
Necasova was given a two-year suspended sentence and a five-year ban on working in high posts in state administration.
Military Intelligence Service (VZ) chief Milan Kovanda and intelligence officer Jan Pohunek received suspended sentences of 20 months each and Kovanda’s predecessor at the VZ’s helm 18 months. The were also banned from working in intelligence services an security forces for five years.
The information leak case, together with other scandals, led to the fall of the cabinet of Necas (Civic Democrats, ODS) in mid-2013. Necas divorced shortly afterwards and married Nagyova.
According to the verdict, Nagyova unlawfully ordered the VZ officers to spy on Necas’s estranged wife Radka and two employees of the Government Office, using “her close personal affair” with the prime minister.
The state attorney claims Nagyova (now Necasova) wanted to speed up Necas’s divorce by gaining information about his wife.
Necasova and the intelligence officers plead innocent.
The officers previously dismissed the charges saying they were tasked to conduct “counter shadowing” which involved watching suspicious movements around Necas’s former wife and a possible security risk to the state.
However, judge Pavla Hajkova concluded that their criminal activity was clearly proved.
The previous judge, Helena Kralova, repeatedly acquitted the defendants of charges in proceedings at a Prague district court.
However, the appeals court panel always annulled the acquitting verdicts and it ordered to replace the judge for disrespecting its legal opinions eventually. Now Hajkova was dealing with the case.
State attorney Rostislav Bajger originally demanded prison sentences of up to three years and ten months for the defendants.
