Brno, Sept 24 (CTK) – The Czech Constitutional Court (US) has rejected a complaint by former Czech Social Democrat (CSSD) influential politician David Rath against the alleged bias of the Supreme Court (US) panel and a political character of its decision-making, CTK has found out in the court’s database.
The US ruled there were no objective reasons for questioning the unbiased character of the three judges who were dealing with the complaint against law violation filed by Justice Minister Robert Pelikan (ANO) and approved the use of wiretapping recordings as evidence in Rath’s corruption case.
However, the US admitted that extreme publicity was given to the Rath case.
“The statements by President(Milos Zeman), cited by the complainant were often on the verge of inappropriate influencing the judicial power,” the US judges wrote.
Rath filed the rejected constitutional complaint in the middle of the summer. The US decided on it behind the closed doors.
This week, the US received another complaint by Rath aimed directly against the NS’s verdict in the case and its justification.
The Constitutional Court is still dealing with Rath’s previous complaint, demanding that Zeman refrain from any direct or indirect interference in his case.
Zeman said at the begining of the year that if someone were detained with seven million crowns in a wine box, any discussions about his guilt or innocence seemed inappropriate to him.
Later, Zeman said he was considering filing a disciplinary complaint against the relevant judge that had cancelled the verdict sending Rath to prison.
Rath was caught red-handed with seven million crowns, a suspected bribe, in a wine box in May 2012 and arrested. The court proceedings lasted two years
In July 2015, to the Central Bohemia Regional Court sentenced Rath to 8.5 years in prison and the forfeiture of some 20 million crowns for taking bribes worth millions of crowns linked to the manipulated public orders in the Central Bohemia Region.
However, the appeals Prague High Court cancelled the verdict in the case of Rath and other ten people due to the unlawful use of wiretappings last autumn and returned the case to the Regional Court for reappraisal.
In the meantime, Pelikan filed a complaint against the High Court’s decision with the Supreme Court that accepted it.
The Regional Court in Prague will deal with the case again. The new trial starts on October 23.
