State attorney who halted case against PM says no political pressure was exerted

Prague State Attorney Pavel Šaroch, who halted the investigation into suspected EU subsidy fraud involving Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and members of his family, has said he did not come under any political pressure in making the decision, although at first the media pressure surrounding the high-profile case was considerable.

In an interview for Czech Radio, State Attorney Šaroch said work on the case had been intensive but standard in every way. He said the reason why he had halted the case was that there was simply not enough evidence to indicate criminal activity on the part of those charged.

His superior, Chief Prague State Attorney Martin Erazim, upheld Šaroch’s decision a few days later. That decision may still be invalidated by the Supreme State Attorney Pavel Zeman.