Court rejects Qatar prince’ involvement in libel case

A court in Prague rejected on Wednesday a petition by Qatari prince Hamid Bin Abdul Sani al-Thani to intervene in a high-profile “judical mafia” libel case. The prince wanted to become an enjoined party in a legal dispute between Supreme State Attorney Renáta Vesecká and her predecessor Marie Benešová. Ms Benšová said the supreme state attorney, along with a group of prosecutors and judges, were a “judicial mafia” because they intervened in the protracted alleged bribery case involving deputy Prime Minister Jiří Čunek. Last month, a court in Prague upheld her claims and ruled Ms Benešová did not have to apologize, pointing out that the “judicial mafia” also intervened in the case of the Qatari prince. In 2005, Mr Sani was accused in the Czech Republic of sexual abuse of minors but was later released and left the country for his homeland.