The Prague Court has today begun hearing an appeal in the Capi hnizdo (‘Stork’s Nest’) case of suspected EU subsidy fraud, in which opposition ANO leader and ex-PM Andrej Babis and his former adviser (now an ANO MEP) Jana Nagyova are defendants, with intense interest from the media.
The Prague Municipal Court has twice acquitted both Babis and Nagyova, who pleaded not guilty. They arrived at the court hearing this morning.
The appeals court panel of judges Eva Brazdilova, Stanislav Kralik and Robert Pacovsky will deal with the case. Brazdilova recapitulated the non-final verdict and the proceedings so far, after which public prosecutor Mojmir Frcek summarised the reasons for the appeal.
According to earlier information, the prosecutor is requesting that the appeals court overturn the verdict and return the case to the Prague Municipal Court for a new hearing.
Brazdilova announced that the appeals court planned to present its own evidence. It has called Jan Bares as a witness for Tuesday. In the past, the appeals court criticised the Municipal Court for having based its acquittal on his testimony. Bares rejected the suggestion that considerations about the subsidy had played a role in the decision to remove the Capi Hnizdo farm from Agrofert.
On Tuesday, the court plans to hear the testimony of expert Vitezslav Halek, who earlier stated that the Capi Hnizdo farm was not economically capable of implementing the project without its relations with Agrofert.
It is not yet clear when the court might issue its ruling. It will hear the case this week until Wednesday, and has also scheduled a hearing for the week of 23-27 June.
There are 100 seats in the courtroom. The court allowed photographs and video footage to be taken before the hearing began, and after the photographers left, about 30 people from the press, public and court staff remained in the courtroom.
Both defendants arrived accompanied by their defence lawyers after 8:30 am. Both refused to give any comment to the press.
According to the indictment, Babis arranged in 2007-08 for the Farma Capi Hnizdo to leave his giant Agrofert group and be turned into a joint stock company with bearer shares owned by his children and partner. Investigators argue that he did so in order for the company to appear to meet the conditions to obtain a CZk 50 million subsidy for small and medium-sized businesses. Nagyova successfully applied for the subsidy.
Nagyova was charged with subsidy fraud and damaging the EU’s financial interests, and Babis was an accessory to both crimes, the prosecution claims.
Both Babis and Nagyova have denied guilt since the beginning.
The Prague Municipal Court concluded twice that the act was not a crime. The court ruled so for the first time in 2023, but an appeals court annulled the verdict and ordered a reappraisal. The Municipal Court acquitted both defendants for the second time in February last year.
The appeals court may uphold the verdict of the Municipal Court, but it cannot find the defendants guilty after the lower-level court acquitted them. If it disagrees with the acquittal, it can return the case to the lower court under the Criminal Procedure Rules. However, the appeals panel may submit evidence and may return the case with its binding legal opinion to the lower court.
Babis has described the prosecution as politically motivated. In his closing speech at the Municipal Court last February, he called the indictment false. He reiterated that the reason for taking the Capi Hnizdo farm out of Agrofert was to implement the project as a family business.
