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28 I Central Europe bne April 2022
A drawing showing Babis behind bars on an escape room door.
Former Czech premier Andrej Babis finally charged with fraud in Stork's Nest case
bne IntelliNews
Czechia's former premier Andrej Babis has finally been charged with fraud over the six-year-old Stork's Nest case, in which he is accused of illegally claiming EU subsidies for a conference centre project. The populist leader, who is expected to launch his bid this year to become president, denies the charges, which he says are politically motivated.
Babis bitterly fought against the investigation while finance minister and premier and is now only facing charges after losing power in October's general election. Opposition politicians, now in power, claim that he helped
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block the prosecution of the case, in which he outlasted several of his party's justice ministers, as well as the public prosecutors in charge of the file.
If the case goes to trial this year it could complicate Babis' plans to stand for the presidency early next year, though, given the sluggish prosecution of the case, this looks unlikely. If Babis were to become president he would gain immunity from prosecution, something that critics say
is one of the main motivations for him to seek the post.
Public Prosecutor Jaroslav Saroch has filed charges against Babis and his
advisor Jana Nagyova over the alleged fraud, Prague State Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Ales Cimbala confirmed on March 21.
"On March 21 the public prosecutor of the Municipal State Prosecutor's Office in Prague filed indictments against two individuals in a case referred to in the media as the Capi Hnizdo [Stork Nest] case," Cimbala said, according to the Czech News Agency, adding that one of the charged persons is accused of committing subsidy fraud and damaging the EU financial interests, while the actions of the other person are qualified as aiding and abetting the crime of subsidy fraud.