Appeals court opens Czech MUS case: 400-page ruling and three defendants before panel

The court today began hearing appeals in the criminal case concerning the privatisation of Mostecká uhelná společnost (MUS). All three defendants attended the opening of the hearing in person: former mining company managers Antonio Koláček and Oldřich Klimecký, as well as Robert Sýkora, a former deputy minister of industry. The public prosecutor, injured party Czech Coal Services and nine other participating entities also appealed. The court has scheduled eight days for the proceedings. It opened with a recap of the non-final 400-page judgment. Eighty-six-year-old Klimecký will not take part in the trial due to poor health.

The long-running and extensive case concerns the sale of the state's stake in MUS, unanimously approved by Miloš Zeman's government in 1999. According to the ruling, the company's managers devised and carried out a plan in advance to take control of MUS using its own funds, siphoning money from it under the pretext of investing it abroad. They then allegedly waited for the share price to fall and bought the Czech state's stake at a significantly lower price. The prosecution claims they caused damage of CZK 2.37 billion.

Koláček, who has been sentenced to 7.5 years in prison for fraud and misuse of information in business dealings, insists that he restructured and stabilised the company. According to him, the state knew to whom it was selling its stake, or rather did not care because it wanted to get rid of it. The manager is also newly challenging the credibility of some evidence. Arriving for today's hearing, he said he trusted the high court to reach a fair decision. He has hired five lawyers, four of whom represented him today. Under the ruling, several hundred million crowns in his bank accounts are to be forfeited.

Klimecký, MUS's former chief executive, also came to court but shortly after the hearing began excused himself from further participation. He walks with a cane, is hard of hearing and told the court that he has heart and back problems. The non-final ruling sentenced him to six years in prison and the forfeiture of money seized by police. Together with Koláček, he must also compensate for the damage caused and was banned from serving in company management for five years.

The appeals panel plans to hear the third defendant, Sýkora, before allowing all the appeals to be presented. Presiding judge Robert Fremr described the supplementary testimony as crucial evidence. Sýkora indicated that his monologue would last two to three hours. He has been sentenced to three years in prison for accepting a bribe in connection with preparing documents for the government's decision on the sale of the MUS stake.

The non-final guilty verdict was delivered by Prague's Municipal Court three years ago. The main trial had previously lasted four years, during which the court repeatedly questioned former top politicians, including ex-president Zeman, as information was gradually declassified. It also had to seek legal assistance from Switzerland, which had convicted the MUS managers earlier. The high court did not receive the criminal file, comprising 144 volumes, until last summer. The court of first instance had repeatedly extended its deadline for preparing the written version of the ruling.

Eight people originally faced charges, but billionaire Luboš Měkota died in 2013 and the prosecutor suspended the prosecution of former lobbyist and arms dealer Pavel Musela for health reasons. The indictment thus targeted six people linked to MUS. The court gradually halted the prosecution of Petr Kraus, Marek Čmejla and Jiří Diviš because they began serving sentences imposed earlier in the Swiss branch of the case. Kraus went to prison in Switzerland, while billionaires Čmejla and Diviš ultimately received suspended sentences and fines there. Koláček and Klimecký were also meant to go to prison in Switzerland, but neither did so, which meant they could also be prosecuted in Czechia.