Billionaire Pelc's Fatal Car Crash Case: Prosecutors Obtain Video of His Movements

The Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office of the Czech Republic will make a decision next week in the case of businessman Zdeněk Pelc, who is accused of causing a fatal car crash — the office is weighing whether to file a cassation complaint against the discontinuation of his criminal prosecution. This was announced by prosecutor's office spokesman Petr Malý.

According to him, the oversight body has been handling this case longer than one might assume: the prosecutor's office launched its own review even before the justice minister's request — the trigger was a submission from colleagues at the district prosecutor's office in the Central Bohemian Region.

The arguments put forward by the regional prosecutors and the justice minister largely overlap, but Justice Minister Jeroným Tejc added specific video evidence to the case file. "It can be said that the arguments were similar, but the minister supplemented them with video footage that is meant to document the accused's movements," Malý clarified.

It is precisely this footage, capturing Pelc's activity, that could directly contradict the forensic medical assessment of his serious health condition — a conclusion the courts had previously relied on to discontinue the criminal proceedings.

According to the prosecutor's office spokesman, the review of the case is now in its final stage. "The case has reached the point right before the decision on whether to file a cassation complaint or not. A decision should be made within the next week," Malý added, noting that the prosecutor's office is also considering other extraordinary legal remedies besides a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court itself.

Businessman Zdeněk Pelc, one of the wealthiest people in the Czech Republic, was accused by police of causing a crash last June near Rakovník while driving under the influence of alcohol. A 61-year-old driver died in the collision with Pelc's Lexus. A blood test showed Pelc had a blood alcohol level of more than 1.6 per mille. Even before the trial began, the businessman reached a financial compensation agreement with the deceased's family.

Nevertheless, both the district and regional courts discontinued the criminal proceedings based on an expert opinion stating that, due to his serious health condition, the accused would be unable to participate in court hearings for three months or longer. On July 12, Justice Minister Jeroným Tejc announced on social media platform X that he had instructed the prosecutor general to file a cassation complaint against the accused, casting doubt on the actions of both the courts and the expert.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz