Authorities to tighten regulations on casino licenses

Following Sunday's explosion outside a casino in the centre of Prague, which injured 18 people, Czech officials have said they plan to tighten regulations on granting casino licenses. The finance ministry is drafting an amendment to the law under which the police would screen all licence applicants, regardless of whether they had produced a clean criminal record and the local authorities would have the right to reject a casino in their district even if the applicant fulfilled all the stated criteria.

Under the present law security checks are terminated the moment an applicant produces a clean criminal record and Prague has more casinos than several European countries put together. Sunday's explosion, which injured 18 people, on a busy Prague street, was linked to the criminal underworld, the result of an ongoing feud between two Israeli mafia families. The incident has raised questions about what kind of people are operating the vast number of casinos in the Czech Republic and whether the authorities have the situation under control.