Former police chief dismisses claims he knew of underworld murder in advance

Former police chief Vladislav Husak has denied that he had any specific information about the murder of entrepreneur Frantisek Mrazek. Speaking on Czech TV on Sunday, Mr Husak described media reports that he had been informed of the threat to Mr Mrazek's life three months before he was murdered as "rubbish". He did not rule out that the reports were part of a wider plot to discredit him. Mr Husak resigned on Friday after weeks of intense media pressure following accusations that he warned key suspects in a number of corruption cases ahead of their planned arrest. This included the so-called "bio-fuel" case, in which many public officials are said to have offered or accepted bribes to influence the outcome of public bio-fuel tenders. Controversial businessman Frantisek Mrazek had been one of the people implicated in the case. He was murdered in January 2006 by a gunman using a telescopic sight.