European arrest warrant issued for ex-MP found guilty of fraud

A court in Ostrava has issued a European warrant for the arrest of former Social Democrat deputy Petr Wolf, who three weeks ago failed to turn up to begin serving a six-year jail term for fraud. A spokesperson said that the police had told the court there was a realistic suspicion that Mr. Wolf was no longer in the Czech Republic. There have been reports that the former politician had drawn substantial amounts from his bank account and last week the newspaper Právo said that it had received a text message from his mobile phone saying that he was disguised as a tree and was being bothered by a nesting woodpecker.