According to the court, prosecution was completely unjustified, Czech police action was “non-standard”
The Metropolitan Court of Brno has ordered the Czech government to pay 435,000 CZK to Tatra ex-CEO Ronald Adams as a remuneration for non-material harm caused by illegal statutory actions taken against Adams. This involved the unjustified detention and prosecution of Adams initiated by the investigators of the Regional police directorate of the South Moravian Region in Brno and unjustified actions of the Prosecutor in 2012 and 2013.
In August 2012, Ronald Adams was accused of the criminal act of bribery and the Prosecutor filed a motion to remand Adams in custody. The Municipal Court in Brno rejected the motion as totally unjustified. Nevertheless, the prosecutor filed a lawsuit against Adams thereafter, which was dismissed by the Municipal Court in Brno in October 2013, and Adams was acquitted on all charges.
The Ministry of Justice admitted in an earlier written explanation that the actions of both the Police and Prosecutor were unlawful and illegal. The Ministry issued an apology to Ronald Adams, along with a financial compensation in the amount of 120,000 CZK. The current decision of the Municipal Court in Brno confirmed the illegal practice of law and increased the total compensation to 435,000 CZK plus the legal interest.
The judge in this current case wrote in her verdict that “the commencement of the criminal prosecution was obviously non-standard” and further stated that the evidence showed the prosecution was the result of a motion from former Minister Martin Bartak. “The criminal prosecution was commenced for the purpose of injuring the reputation of Mr. Adams with the aim of harming him and portraying him as a unreliable witness” in the corruption cases related to Mr. Bartak. The court also concluded that “It was also proved that the steps taken when detaining the Claimant and placing him in the detention cell were not standard, especially when the request of additional medical examinations went quite beyond the framework of standard investigation procedure.” The Court concluded “that the criminal prosecution of Adams was completely unjustified”.
Evidence presented in the case, although it was not the main interest of the Court, focused on the non-material harm done. It drew a highly likely connection between the illegal prosecution of Adams by the state and the ownership takeover of Tatra, a. s. Shortly after Adams’ detention in August 2012, Tatra’s receivables were sold by Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka to J&T Banka which then, a few days later, sold the receivables to companies owned by Czech businessmen Jaroslav Strnad and Rene Matera. That company then put Tatra into execution and another company owned a month later by Mr. Strnad and Mr. Matera purchased the enterprise of Tatra at auction at the minimum bid price. They were the only bidders at the auction. The company has since been renamed Tatra Trucks, a.s. In the testimony submitted to Court it was stated by a large shareholder in the parent company of Tatra, a. s. that the detention and prosecution of Mr. Adams caused the quick sale of Tatra to these investors.
Adams commented that “the amount of money awarded in this case is inconsequential. The principles of truth and justice are what this case was about and the Court has found the truth in issuing its verdict. It’s a sad situation when these types of things are allowed to occur in a country such as the Czech Republic. On the other hand, it is also encouraging that all the judicial institutions which had been dealing with the case for the whole period of time, have conclusively found the truth and enforced the justice.”
Contact for media:
Vladimír Bystrov
+420 777 130 788
Barbora Malá
+420 602 407 761