David Rath is at large, the court released him on parole

On Tuesday, the Regional Court in Brno conditionally released the former Central Bohemian governor for the CSSD, David Rath, from prison. An order for his release was sent to prison, a court clerk told reporters present. Rath should be released within hours. Rath received a seven-year sentence for corruption, serving more than half.

The Brno courts are dealing with the proposal for parole, because the former prominent CSSD politician is serving his sentence in the Brno-Bohunice prison. Last November, the city court ruled on Rath’s parole with a probationary period of seven years, but the prosecutor filed a complaint against the decision.

The regional court ruled on the complaint on Tuesday. However, the hearing was not public, the court ruled so-called from the table. Rath was not present at the Senate meeting, nor was his lawyer or plaintiff.

Rath’s lawyer did not apply for parole, but the Association of Patients of the Czech Republic. According to the city court, Rath’s evaluation by the prisons was very positive, and the former governor did his best to remedy the situation. However, the prosecutor thought that Rath did not have the self-reflection to the extent that he realized what he had done and how it had affected his view of politicians. She also reminded that he did not pay the entire fine. According to her, the conditional release of Rath would also be premature, because his sentence in the related case was illegally increased by one year.

Ratha was detained by police in May 2012 with a bribe of seven million in a wine box. The Prague High Court later acknowledged Rath’s guilt in cases of influencing tenders for the reconstruction of Buštěhrad Castle in the Kladno region and the grammar school building in Hostivice near Prague. In this so-called first branch of the case, Rath received a seven-year prison sentence, as well as a ten-million fine and a ban on activity, for gaining an advantage in awarding a public contract and damaging the EU’s financial interests. So far, he has paid about half of the amount. The verdict in this branch of the corruption case around Rath last year was upheld by the Supreme Court, which rejected all appeals.

In the second branch of the case, the Regional Court in Prague unjustifiably extended Rath’s sentence by another year, and also imposed a fine of 18 million. According to the senate, another eight defendants and nine companies, including the construction company Metrostav, also committed crimes related to medical contracts in the region. The second branch will only be dealt with by the High Court of Appeal in April.