Judge rejects defence's proposal to introduce new evidence in Stork's Nest trial

Judge Jan Šott rejected the defence's proposal to present new evidence on the penultimate day of the Stork's Nest trial in which ex-PM and presidential candidate Andrej Babiš stands accused of fraud. According to Czech news site Deník N, the proposal was a stalling tactic that the defence had also tried on Wednesday. Mr Babiš's lawyers proposed, among other things, reading a more-than-two-thousand-page long book by Babiš's son, who testified against his father in the case, in an attempt to discredit Andrej Babiš Jr.

After the defence's proposals were rejected, the judge ended the hearing of evidence and the prosecutor began delivering his closing speech. The closing speeches of the defence attorneys and defendants will follow.

Mr. Babiš and his former advisor Jana Nagyová stand accused of fraud for falsely creating the impression that the Stork’s Nest company, which was connected to Babiš’s conglomerate Agrofert, met grant conditions as a small or medium-sized business, in order to fraudulently acquire around CZK 50 million in EU subsidies. The trial follows a seven-year investigation. Both defendants face five to ten years in prison.

Mr. Babiš repeated on Wednesday that he considers his criminal prosecution to be politically motivated and purposefully timed to coincide with the presidential elections, the first round of which is taking place on January 13 and 14. The trial is scheduled to finish on Friday.