At the end of July, the Brno Regional Court said that former influential ANO member Jiří Švachula, accused of corruption, would not be released from custody even after sixteen months.
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However, in a written decision now obtained by the List of Reports, Judge Jaroslava Bartošová described the conditions under which he could succeed with the application next time.
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Before his last detention session, Švachula was guaranteed by his ex-wife. According to Bartošová, that is not enough.
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“It cannot reasonably be expected that in the event of release from custody, Jitka Švachulová could prevent the accused Jiří Švachul from fleeing or hiding in order to avoid the imminent high unconditional sentence,” the judge wrote.
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However, she added, the situation could change hypothetically if Švachula offered a reasonable bail for his release, or if he agreed to the supervision of a probation officer. And especially if he were guarded with the help of an electronic control system that would allow the detection of his movement.
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But Švachul did not offer any of it.
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“It can therefore be summarized that the considerations of the finding court on the possible replacement of detention by another legal measure remained only on a theoretical level,” Bartošová said.
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“The written promise of the defendant’s ex-wife cannot be considered an adequate substitute for detention, especially in proportion to the significant property benefit that the defendant Jiří Švachula was to obtain through criminal activity,” she added.
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According to the public prosecutor in this case, in which Švachula, another ten people and two companies are accused of influencing the public procurement of the Brno-střed town hall, the amount of bribes was about 47 million crowns.
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Escape to Switzerland?
Investigators seized Švachul’s property. And Švachula said during the detention session that he had no other property. “The property that I acquired before my entry into politics was secured for me by the authorities active in the preparatory proceedings,” Švachula declared in court according to the said document.
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He also claimed that he did not want to go anywhere and that he could not, because the validity of his passport expired last September. However, police also claimed that earlier wiretaps recorded that Švachula could flee to Switzerland.
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“It is true that my dream was to open an art gallery in Switzerland, but I did not take any relevant steps in this direction,” Švachula refused the investigators’ version.
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According to the plaintiff, former influential Brno politician for YES and Brno-center councilor Jiří Švachula stood at the top of the entire group facing the indictment. According to the police, he was also to collect bribes.
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During the investigation, detectives obtained testimonies from representatives of some construction companies and co-defendants as evidence of criminal activity. They also have documented meetings at which the money was to be handed over.
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