Kalousek wins libel suit against ANO leader Babiš

Former Czech finance minister Miroslav Kalousek has won a libel suit against ANO party leader Andrej Babiš. The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Babiš must apologize to his one-time political rival for a statement made in the Czech lower house five years ago when he accused him of "stealing from the Defence Ministry and having killed people by his purchase of parachutes".  Babiš has been ordered to apologise at a meeting of the Chamber of Deputies and also send a letter of apology to Kalousek. The ANO party leader said that he himself has been insulted much worse during heated debates in Parliament and would challenge the verdict in the Constitutional Court.

In his speech Babiš was referring to 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 and the army did not use the equipment afterwards.