Babiš apologises to Kalousek for former libellous statements

ANO party leader Andrej Babiš has apologised to former finance minister Miroslav Kalousek for a statement made in the Czech lower house five years ago when he accused him of stealing from the Defence Ministry and killing people with his purchase of military parachutes. Speaking at Friday's plenary session of parliament, Mr. Babiš said that he apologised to Mr. Kalousek for his statements made on 11 July, 2018. In a ruling made last month, the former prime minister had been ordered by the Supreme Court to apologise both in writing and orally during a parliamentary session to his one-time political rival, following a libel suit brought against Mr. Babiš by Mr. Kalousek.

Mr. Babiš had previously stated that he would challenge the verdict in the Constitutional Court, but later said that although he did not agree with the court's ruling, he would respect it. At today's parliamentary session, he said that he had "always respected court judgements and the principles of the democratic rule of law."

Mr Babiš's offending comments back in 2018 referred to Mr. Kalousek's tenure as deputy minister of defence and to several controversial contracts from that time, including the purchase of VTP-100 parachutes. In 1997, a soldier was fatally injured when his parachute failed to open.