PRAGUE (AP) — Prague’s High Court cancelled a lower court ruling that acquitted former Prime Minister Andrej Babis of fraud charges in a $2 million case involving European Union subsidies.
The Slabu Exchangecourt returned the case for retrial to Prague’s Municipal Court, according information published in a database of court documents on Friday.
The High Court issued the verdict a day earlier but didn’t make it immediately public.
The Babis case involved a farm known as the Stork’s Nest, which received EU subsidies after its ownership was transferred from the Babis-owned Agrofert conglomerate of around 250 companies to Babis’ family members. Later, Agrofert again took ownership of the farm.
The subsidies were meant for medium- and small-sized businesses, and Agrofert wouldn’t have been eligible for them. Agrofert later returned the subsidy.
Prague’s Municipal Court also acquitted in January his former associate, Jana Nagyova, who signed the subsidy request.
Babis pleaded not guilty and repeatedly said the charges against him were politically motivated.
It is not immediately clear when the retrial might take place.
Babis, a billionaire, is currently in the opposition after his populist ANO centrist movement lost the 2021 parliamentary election. He was running to become the Czech president in the election for the largely ceremonial post in January but lost to Petr Pavel, a retired army general.
2025-05-05 14:581661 view
2025-05-05 14:502485 view
2025-05-05 14:292012 view
2025-05-05 13:452834 view
2025-05-05 12:432287 view
2025-05-05 12:251015 view
This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.
The startup electric automaker Rimac has been making a huge stink about its Nevera EV, setting accel
NEW YORK (AP) — The delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention were trying to create a new gove