The Prague Metropolitan Court will have to deal with the Capi hnizdo subsidy fraud case once again, as the Prague High Court today overturned the verdict that had acquitted ANO leader Andrej Babis and his former aide Jana Nagyova in February 2024.
The appeals court is dealing with the case for the second time. It previously overturned the lower court’s acquittal verdict in late 2023.
Appeals court panel head Eva Brazdilova stated that she also had reservations about the second verdict of the lower court. Even though the ruling was prepared conscientiously and carefully, she said it could not stand up in the appeals proceedings.
Judge Brazdilova said the appeals panel often agreed with the assessment of the evidence made by the Metropolitan Court. She added that this was another reason she found the decision to acquit the suspects incomprehensible.
Both former prime minister Babis and Nagyova (now an MEP) attended the morning part of today’s hearing, but excused themselves from the announcement of the decision. Babis claimed again in court today that he is being prosecuted because of his entry into politics. He said he felt innocent, and that there was no evidence that he had committed any crime. Nagyova also denied guilt.
Public prosecutor Mojmir Frcek called earlier today for the High Court to order the Prague Metropolitan Court to find both suspects guilty, adding that the current case law of the Constitutional Court allows this.
Babis’s defence lawyer Eduard Bruna said that such a procedure would be unacceptable and unconstitutional. Bruna said that such a verdict would be not only contrary to other Constitutional Court decisions, but also the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
Former prime minister Babis is suspected of arranging for the Farma Capi hnizdo company to be taken out of his giant Agrofert holding at the end of 2007 and start of 2008, and selling its shares to his children and partner. According to investigators, these steps were taken so that Farma Capi Hnizdo would appear to meet the conditions to obtain subsidies for small and medium-sized enterprises, to which it would not have been eligible as part of Agrofert. In 2018, the company returned the CZK 50 million subsidy it had received.
The Prague Metropolitan Court concluded twice that the act was not a crime. The court ruled so for the first time in 2023, but the appeals court annulled the verdict and ordered a reappraisal. The Metropolitan Court acquitted both defendants again in February 2024. The High Court has been dealing with the second appeal publicly since the end of May.
According to Frcek, the second judgment of the Metropolitan Court had not addressed the defects that had been criticised by the High Court in its first decision.
Nagyova’s lawyer Josefa Bartoncik said Frcek was deviating from the arguments in the appeal filed by the prosecutor from the Prague Metropolitan Public Prosecutor’s Office. Bartoncik also said the evidence that the appeals court gathered during the proceedings confirmed that the acquittal of the municipal court was correct.
Nagyova was charged with subsidy fraud and damaging the EU’s financial interests, Babis should be punished for helping commit both crimes, the prosecution claims. Both Babis and Nagyova have denied guilt since the beginning.
