Former head of the building authority in Liberec did not commit a criminal offense according to the court

Liberec - The former head of the building authority in Liberec, Vladimír Andres, who was charged last year with abuse of power during the construction of row houses in Liberec-Pavlovice, has not committed any crime according to the court. This is reported by today's Liberec supplement of Mladá fronta Dnes (MfD). While the defendant was satisfied with the verdict, the prosecutor immediately appealed against the decision, and the case will therefore be dealt with by the regional court.
    Andres is convinced that he did nothing wrong, and the judge Blanka Škrétová agreed with him. The judge does not consider it socially dangerous that he later bought an apartment in this area with his wife. "Moreover, the consents for construction were issued subsequently," she told the newspaper.
    According to the prosecutor, the former head of the building authority abused his power when, in July 2002, he issued a zoning decision and in January of the following year a building permit for the construction of family homes in the area of Staré Pavlovice. This was despite the fact that he did not have the consent for the exclusion of the land from the agricultural land fund or the consent of the environmental department of the Liberec city hall. He even moved into one of the houses himself. He also approved another form of development, so instead of dispersed houses, row houses with 200 apartments were built in the area.
    According to the indictment, extensive destruction of nature occurred in Pavlovice due to the construction. Protected animal species, such as swifts, toads, quail, or bumblebees, were present on the built-up 5.6 hectares. According to the environmental department of the Liberec city hall, Andres issued the zoning decision before the zoning plan was approved. However, Andres did not admit any guilt. "Construction had already been going on there before, and no one had objections to the buildings, nor did anyone object to the zoning decision," said the former head of the building authority in court.