High court sentences former police chief to five-and-and-a-half years in jail

The Prague High Court has sentenced former Prague City Police chief Vladimír Kotrouš to five-and-and-a-half years in prison, lowering his original six-year sentence. In addition, the court ruled that Mr Kotrouš was banned from working in any of the security forces for five years and will also have to pay a 400,000 crown fine. The former police chief was arrested with a 150,000 crown bribe on his person last year, which he admitted to; the prosecution charged that he had asked for an overall sum of one million. Mr Kotrouš said that his family’s unforeseen financial difficulties had led him to break the law.