Miroslav Výboh (source: Webnoviny (SITA))
Výboh was prosecuted in Austria for the case pertaining to the purchase of armoured vehicles for the Czech Republic worth billions of Czech crowns together with Israeli arms trader Lova Drori. The Austrian authorities did not want to confirm the identities of the prosecuted men and described them only as a Slovak and an Israeli national. The Prague-based court however did it in written form of the ruling with which it sent another actor in the scandal, lobbyist Marek Dalík, to prison for five years for corruption, the Sme daily reported.
The ruling is not valid yet.
“L. Drori and Ing. Výboh were in the beginning of the investigation prosecuted for a crime which they allegedly committed together with Dalík,” reads the ruling issued by Judge Veronika Čeplová, as quoted by Sme.
The judge scrutinised the activities of the two men as she needed to learn more about their situation at the time they testified in the trial with Dalík. Čeplová ordered the prosecutor to find out more details when the Austrian authorities halted the investigation in January 2016. According to the verified information, Výboh and Dalík were prosecuted for attempted bribery, forbidden support and embezzlement. Since no crime was proven, Austrians had decided to stop the investigation, as reported by Sme.
The Czech court however has not learnt about details behind such a decision.
The verdict, which Sme obtained based on the law on free access to information, indicates that the Prague-based court considered Výboh’s testimony in favour of Dalík untrustworthy. Though the court did not clarify his role in the case, Čeplová opined he could have organised the meetings at which Dalík had asked representatives of Austrian firm Steyr for bribes.
It is very probable Výboh knew about what was happening at the meetings, the ruling reads, as reported by Sme.
Moreover, though the prosecution of Výboh and Drori was stopped, they are still suspected of being accomplices when Dalík sought bribes, the daily wrote.
