Nečas says police chief was about to be sacked before ordering operation that led to his downfall as PM

Former prime minister and Civic Democrats chairman Petr Nečas says that the head of the police’s organised crime unit, Robert Šlachta, was about to be sacked shortly before he ordered an operation that included a raid on the office of the government and precipitated Mr. Nečas’s downfall. He told the weekly Euro that Mr. Šlachta was facing the axe for failing to combat the trade in illegally produced alcohol. Mr. Nečas said the organised crime unit had become chiefly interested in hounding politicians. For his part, Mr. Šlachta describes Mr. Nečas’s comments as completely untrue.

Last June members of the unit arrested on bribe-taking charges three former Civic Democrat MPs who had received lucrative posts at semi-state enterprises after agreeing not to bring down Mr. Nečas’s government. They have since been exonerated but Mr. Nečas himself is still facing bribery charges, as are his former chief aide and current spouse Jana Nagyová and a number of others.

Author: Ian Willoughby