Dispute between health minister and shadow minister settled out of court
A legal dispute between health minister Tomáš Julínek and shadow health minister David Rath has been settled out of court. Mr Julínek had sued Mr Rath for defamation of character after the shadow health minister suggested to journalists that Mr Julínek had misappropriated public funds for political purposes. In March last year, a court ruled in favour of Mr Julínek, but Mr Rath immediately appealed the verdict. The court of appeal upheld the original ruling, demanding that Mr Rath apologise to the current health minister, and pay him 20,000 CZK (nearly 1,200 USD) in damages. The dispute was taken before a court for the third time following this verdict, but on Friday, Mr Julínek’s spokesperson said that the minister was tired of dealing with the case, and that a settlement had been found out of court. He did not divulge the conditions of the settlement.