Billionaire Pelz's Fatal Crash Case Reaches Supreme Court

The case of Czech businessman Pelz, accused of causing a fatal traffic accident, has been referred to the Supreme Court. This was announced by Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office spokesman Petr Malý, who noted that new evidence cannot be introduced during cassation proceedings, meaning the substance of Justice Minister Tejc's request has been forwarded to the locally competent Rakovník District Prosecutor's Office for evaluation of the evidence.

Separately, prosecutors in Rakovník will examine a video recording that, according to Justice Minister Tejc, was filmed by journalists and allegedly documents the accused businessman's movements.

According to Supreme Public Prosecutor Lana Bradáčová, lower courts made a mistake in discontinuing the criminal proceedings. The cassation appeal states that the prosecutor had no opportunity to comment on the expert opinion that formed the basis of the court's final decision. Moreover, the opinion itself only mentioned a potential deterioration in the defendant's health, noting that this would need to be reassessed after several months.

According to the prosecution, it was never proven that Pelz's health condition made it impossible for him to take part in court hearings — for instance, via videoconference. "It is also necessary to emphasize the nature and gravity of the crime, which resulted in a person's death," Bradáčová said.

Prosecutors in Brno noted that they had begun working on the case at the initiative of the Prague Regional Prosecutor's Office even before Minister Tejc publicly drew attention to the situation.

The tragic accident occurred on June 4 of last year on the road between Nové Strašecí and Řevničov in the Rakovník district. Pelz, driving a Lexus, collided head-on with an oncoming car whose driver, a 61-year-old man, died on the spot. A blood test showed Pelz had a blood alcohol level of more than 1.6 per mille.

Ahead of the planned trial, Pelz reached a financial compensation agreement with the deceased man's relatives. However, the Rakovník District Court, and later the Prague Regional Court, discontinued the criminal proceedings based on an expert opinion stating that the defendant's poor health would prevent him from taking part in court hearings for three months or more.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz