Former Czech PM's right hand sentenced to 5 years for graft in army deal

PRAGUE (Reuters) - A Czech court sentenced a former prime minister's closest adviser to five years in prison on Tuesday in a rare high-profile conviction for political corruption. A Prague City Court ruled that Marek Dalik, an adviser to Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, asked for 18 million euros in bribes in 2007 in connection with a 14.4 billion crown ($580 million) army purchase of armoured carriers made by an Austrian unit of U.S. firm General Dynamics. A court spokeswoman confirmed the graft ruling. Both Dalik and the state attorney can appeal against the sentence, which includes a 5 million crown fine, at a higher court. Dalik, 41, has rejected the charges and his attorney said he should be acquitted. Dalik did not attend the trial. Topolanek's government was ousted in a 2009 no-confidence vote, disrupting the six-month Czech presidency of the European Union. Czech state attorneys, reacting to public protests about unpunished corruption by public officials, have launched high-profile graft investigations in recent year. Few senior figures have however been convicted so far. A former health minister who was a rising star in the centre-left Social Democrat party was sentenced to 8.5 years for bribe-taking last year, and is awaiting an appeal. The centre-right prime minister in 2010-2013, Petr Necas, has been credited with freeing prosecutors to go after senior suspects. Necas himself resigned after police investigations of suspected abuse of secret services and political corruption, but many Czech commentators saw his prosecution as a misstep and it has not led to any convictions. The public outcry has hurt traditional political parties and anti-corruption rhetoric helped businessman Andrej Babis become finance minister. His ANO party is the favourite to win the 2017 election. ($1 = 24.7380 Czech crowns) (Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Jan Lopatka/Ruth Pitchford)