Illustrative photo – Former Minister of Defense Vlasta Parkanová at the Prague Municipal Court in a picture from May 13, 25014.
Prague – District Court for Prague 2 today will begin hearing the lawsuit of former Defense Minister Vlasta Parkanová (KDU-ČSL, TOP 09) against the Ministry of Justice. The former politician is asking the state for compensation of over 8.9 million crowns for her long-standing criminal prosecution in the CASA military aircraft case, which ended in an acquittal.
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The purchase of four transport aircraft for approximately 3.5 billion crowns was approved by the government of Mirek Topolánek (ODS) in 2009. The police subsequently accused Parkanová and the head of the ministerial armaments section, Jiří Staňek, of abuse of authority and breach of duty in the management of foreign property with damage 819 million crowns. The indictment accused them of not having an independent opinion drawn up before deciding on the purchase, and that the machines were therefore overpriced.
Parkanová has been facing prosecution since 2012, when she resigned as deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. The courts finally released her only in October 2021. According to the final judgment, no damage was caused to the state and both defendants did their best to ensure that the trade was carried out in accordance with the law. The judges also called the prosecution's claim that Parkanová wanted to please Topolánek not to fire her from the government as nonsense. The ministry then apologized to the woman and voluntarily paid her compensation of 1.6 million crowns.
