(9 Jan 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pardubice - 9 January 2023
1. News conference, zoom in on former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis
2. Various of media
3. SOUNDBITE (Czech) Andrej Babis, former Czech Prime Minister:
"Of course, I'm very happy. I'm mostly happy because of my family, because of my closest co-workers, because of the people who cheered for me. And I think it is good news for the whole Czech Republic, for all citizens of the Czech Republic, that we live in the rule of law and that we have an independent justice and that we have a court that has independently ruled that Mrs. Nagyova (Babis' former associate Jana Nagyova) and I are acquitted. For my family and for me, of course, it was a huge trauma."
4. Cameras
5. Babis leaves
STORYLINE:
Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Monday said he was "very happy" after a Prague court acquitted him of fraud charges in a $2 million case involving EU subsidies.
A prosecutor requested a three-year suspended sentence and a fine of 10 million Czech koruna ($440,000) for the populist billionaire.
The prosecution still can appeal.
Speaking to the media in Pardubice, Babis added: "For my family and for me, of course, it was a huge trauma."
He pleaded not guilty and repeatedly said the charges against him were politically motivated.
He wasn't present at Prague’s Municipal Court on Monday.
His former associate, Jana Nagyova, who signed the subsidy request, was also acquitted.
Judge Jan Sott said what they did “is not a crime."
At the same time, Sott dismissed the notion that Babis was persecuted because of his political activities.
The ruling is a boost for Babis just days before the first round of the Czech presidential election.
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