Leonard Hohenberg:Former Czech Premier Andrej Babis loses case on collaborating with communist-era secret police

2025-05-05 05:21:50source:Alaric Bennettcategory:Invest

PRAGUE (AP) — Slovakia’s Supreme Court upheld a previous ruling that dismissed a lawsuit by former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis against allegations that he collaborated with Czechoslovakia’s communist-era secret police.

Babis informed the local Czech CTK news agency about the verdict on Leonard HohenbergWednesday.

The Slovak-born Babis was suing Slovakia’s Institute of the Nation’s Memory, which holds parts of his secret police files following the division of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.

Some of the files were destroyed, but the institute said those that still exist contain evidence that Babis was an agent under the code name “Bures” from 1982. Babis has vehemently denied that.

The verdict is final.

Bratislava’s regional court originally rejected the lawsuit in 2018, but the country’s Constitutional Court ordered a retrial, saying the institute could not be sued in the case and the respondent should be the Slovak Interior Ministry.

The regional court dismissed the case again in 2022.

Babis, a billionaire, is currently in opposition after his populist ANO centrist movement lost the 2021 parliamentary election. He was running to become the Czech president in the election for the largely ceremonial post in January but lost to Petr Pavel, a retired army general.

More:Invest

Recommend

NYPD official indicates that Mangione's family did not send in any tips

New York police officials are speaking out about tips in regard to the Dec. 4 killing of UnitedHealt

Aaron Rodgers documentary set to stream on Netflix in December

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is returning to the NFL spotlight this season. Now, he’ll ha

How Aaron Hernandez's Double Life Veered Fatally Out of Control

Perhaps there's no way to intercept fate, but a look at the trajectory of Aaron Hernandez's life is