The Parliamentary Committee on Mandates and Immunity on Tuesday voted unanimously to recommend MP David Rath be stripped of immunity and prosecuted for corruption. After a two-hour meeting with Dr Rath, and studying part of the police evidence against him, the parliamentarians were unconvinced of his claims of a conspiracy against him and his not knowing he had received a box full of bribery money. Many of them shared new details of the arrest, evidence and the condition of the fallen governor himself.
David Rath, photo: CTK
The 14 members of the immunity committee seemed shocked to see one of their own in such a state. A high-flying politician who has served as a union leader, governor of Central Bohemia, Minister of Health and one of the most boisterous speakers in Parliament, David Rath has spent the last nearly two weeks in a prison that the media describes as one of the toughest. The committee that voted in unison to give Rath up for investigation also seemed to be in agreement that the venomous orator, famous for his verbal attacks on other MPs, had taken a big piece of humble pie. Its members, among them politician Radek John, described his demeanour at the hearing they held with him on Tuesday, the first news of his personal condition since his arrest.
Radek John
“He said that he wouldn’t wish this experience on his worst enemy, that his career was finished and that he would be spending the rest of his life getting out of it. His fall must have been truly nightmarish – for the first time we saw a Dr Rath who was not arrogant. Which does not mean he won’t be a hard adversary for the police, and do everything in his power to debase the evidence against him.
“He claims it was personal revenge, that it was a baited trap. He said that if they had put wiretaps in the bedrooms of any politician for half a year that they would find something on them, which is an unacceptable argument.“
What Mr Rath apparently did not know prior to the hearing was that the members had that morning seen the police video and audio evidence against him. Radek John says that Mr Rath and others could be heard revelling in, and sifting through 24 million that they divided amongst themselves, planning how to destroy the currency slips. According to the website parliamentnilisty, they parted ways with suspected co-conspirator Petr Kott saying “Here’s your wine, drink it in moderation.” Kott could next be heard in the recordings looking out the window and saying “It’s the rapid reaction unit. We’re screwed!”.
David Rath
Mr John, himself no stranger to corruption cases, detailed much of the evidence that the police shared with the committee. He describes an arrest of the utmost professionalism. Rath was stopped outside the home of Mr Kott, the police informed him he was under arrest and would search his person, but needed an independent witness. When one arrived, the governor’s possessions were searched, all on video camera, which does not show that the box of money was taken out of sight and brought back, as Mr Rath contends. A box large enough for six bottles of wine was then opened, revealing seven million crowns. According to Mr John, Rath spends about half of the recording explaining that he is “Doctor Rath” and that he has political immunity. That, however, is of little use when a politician is caught in the act of a crime.
