Babis acquitted shortly before presidential elections in the Czech Republic New weapons and popular invention: what gives hope in the war in Ukraine

A few days before the presidential elections in the Czech Republic, one of the most promising candidates was surprisingly acquitted in a trial over EU subsidies. A court in Prague ruled on Monday that former Prime Minister Andrej Babis is not guilty of complicity in fraud.

The prosecution had demanded three years in prison for the billionaire and founder of the populist party ANO. Some 8.3 million Czechs were called on Friday and Saturday to choose a successor to President Milos Zeman.

The public prosecutor can appeal against the verdict. The big businessman Babis was accused of stealing the equivalent of about two million euros intended for small and medium-sized companies. To do this, he handed over the project for the wellness resort “Ooievaarsnest” to his children and other close relatives. The grants were later withdrawn from EU funding and reimbursed.

Babis had accused the court of conducting a “constructed trial”. The 68-year-old would receive 27.9 percent of the vote in the presidential election, according to a survey conducted on behalf of CNN Prima News prior to the verdict. However, he would miss the absolute majority, so that a second round would be necessary. Ex-general Petr Pavel followed in second and third with 26.7 percent and economics professor Danuse Nerudova with 24.4 percent. (aeg/sda/dpa)