Municipal Court rejects Ďuričko appeal

Prague’s Municipal Court rejected an appeal by jailed businessman Bohumír Ďuričko for his case to be reopened. His lawyer was seeking a lesser sentence for his client based on alleged new expert evidence. Mr Ďuričko was found guilty in the fatal shooting of Václav Kočka, jr. at a Prague restaurant in 2008. The shooting happened several hours after a book-signing was held there by former prime minister Jiří Paroubek. Bohumír Ďuričko received 12.5 years in prison for the killing, but claimed he shot in self-defence; the new evidence was supposed to corroborate his story. Monday’s decision can still be appealed.

Author: Jan Velinger