Justice minister fires prison service boss

Justice Minister Helena Válková on Friday dismissed the director of the country’s prison service Petr Dohnal. The minister said she has lost confidence in Mr Dohnal’s capacity to run the service and to push through a planned reform of the prison system. Ms Válková named the head of the Rapotice penitentiary, Pavel Ondrášek, the agency’s acting director. The minister first moved against Petr Dohnal in February over his alleged reluctance to submit the agency to a ministerial inspection; Mr Dohnal later said he felt he was being unfairly treated by the minister.