Legionary community revokes membership of Pavel Budinský, accused in Motol case

The highest committee of the Czechoslovak Legionary Community (ČsOL) has revoked the membership of the current chairman Pavel Budinský at an extraordinary meeting on Saturday, according to the organisation's spokesman, Miloš Borovička. The former operational and technical deputy of the Motol University Hospital is among the accused in a corruption case, which according to the police is related to contracts worth more than four billion crowns.

Earlier this week, the community called on Budinský to resign, otherwise the highest committee (Republikový výbor) would terminate his membership. The organisation will now be managed instead by vice-chairmen Tomáš Pilvousek and Karel Ludvík. ČsOL has previously stated that the organisation’s activities are not connected in any way with the case and it is not involved in the investigation.

According to Novinky.cz, Budinský was at the head of the association since 2007. He is a veteran of the wars in the Persian Gulf and Yugoslavia. According to the ČsOL website, the legionary community received hundreds of millions of crowns in subsidies under his leadership, primarily from the Ministry of Defence.