Prague, April 23 (CTK) – David Rath, former Central Bohemia regional governor for the Social Democrats (CSSD), is entitled to 12,000 crowns in compensation for having been escorted to court handcuffed, a Prague district court decided on Monday, reacting to Rath’s claim to 30,000-crown compensation.
The verdict is not definitive.
The police detained Rath in May 2012 on suspicion of corruption and the court ordered that he be taken into custody, from where he was released in November 2013.
In January 2014, the Constitutional Court (US) said Rath had been kept in custody unlawfully from June 2013 at the latest.
On Monday, a Prague district court complied with a part of Rath’s lawsuit, in which he complained about having been escorted handcuffed to the courtroom even at the time when he should not have been in custody any longer.
Judge Zuzana Smidova granted him 400 crowns in compensation for each of the 30 escorts in question.
Rath’s lawyer Roman Jelinek said the verdict is crucial in indicating that a debate should be launched on whether even the suspects who are not dangerous should be brought to court handcuffed.
“If the law enables but does not order to handcuff [escorted suspects], the question is whether it must be done in any case,” Jelinek said.
The court dismissed another part of Rath’s lawsuit, in which he complained of having been “dragged” to the courtroom.
Rath originally also claimed 60,000 crowns in compensation for the costs arising for him in connection with his unlawful stay in custody. The Prague Municipal Court definitely dismissed this claim last October.
In July 2015, a regional court found Rath guilty of bribe taking and sentenced him to 8.5 years in prison. The appeals court, however, cancelled the verdict due to what it called unlawfully used police wiretappings.
The regional court had to deal with the case again. It is expected to issue a verdict on June 27.
