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06/15/2013
The opposition Social Democrats have urged the prime minister to act responsibly and to resign in the face of the growing scandal. Party deputy chair Michal Hašek said that every additional hour of procrastination was damaging the country’s reputation and undermining the country’s democracy. In connection with Tuesday’s no-confidence vote, Mr. Hašek said he hoped that at least some members of the ruling coalition would put the best interests of the state ahead of their own narrow party interests. The opposition needs 101 votes to bring down the government. The motion to dissolve Parliament and open the way for early elections would have to be supported by 120 deputies.
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06/15/2013
Government officials, cultural figures and WWII veterans gathered at the Lidice memorial on Saturday for a commemorative ceremony marking the destruction of the village by the Nazis in 1942 in revenge for the assassination of Nazi governor Reinhard Heydrich. All the men in Lidice were shot, women transported to concentration camps, children forcibly placed in German families for re-education and the village itself was razed to the ground. Speaking at the ceremony, President Miloš Zeman warned against what he called creeping neo-Nazism and false nationalism, saying society must remain vigilant against the danger of history repeating itself.
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06/14/2013
Chairman of the main opposition party, Bohuslav Sobotka, met with President Miloš Zeman on Friday afternoon to discuss his plans to bring about early parliamentary elections and the dissolution of the current government due to a large-scale corruption scandal involving high-ranking officials from the Office of the Government and the ruling Civic Democratic party. Later the in the day, the speaker of the lower house, Miroslava Němcová, received a request from the Social Democratic party for a vote of no confidence to take place next week. After speaking with the opposition leader, the president met with Prime Minister Nečas, who did not reveal any details about the meeting to the press.
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06/14/2013
High State Attorney Ivo Ištvan on Friday confirmed that seven people have been charged in connection with the anti-graft operation that began on Wednesday evening. Among them are Jana Nagyová, the prime minister’s chief of staff who has been charged with abuse of office, the present and former heads of the country's military intelligence and two former Civic Democrat MPs charged with bribery and money laundering. It was also confirmed that Jana Nagyová is involved in the web of corruption having commissioned the country’s military intelligence to spy on three persons, including the prime minister’s wife. She is also linked to the corruption charges leveled against the two former MPs. According to the news server iDnes.cz, the police is also looking into the prime minister because he allegedly offered the three "rebel" Civic Democratic MPs, two of who have already been charged, attractive positions in government-run institutions in exchange for their help in passing the government's reform package last fall.
The seven people who have been charged were brought from Prague to the courthouse detention in Ostrava on Friday evening, where their bail hearings will be held.
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06/14/2013
The head of the police’s organized crime unit Robert Šlachta said that the extensive police operation against graft involved hundreds of officers and had been going on for over a year and a half. He said that in addition to raids on government offices the police had raided 31 private homes and offices confiscating 120 to 150 million crowns in cash, sensitive documents and many kilograms of gold. The anti-graft operation involved politicians, government officials and lobbyists and the charges involve corruption, bribery, money-laundering and abuse of office.
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06/14/2013
In a speech to Parliament on Friday, Prime Minister Petr Nečas said that he would not step down over the ongoing scandal involving some of his closest associates at the Office of the Government. Reacting to a sweep of government offices and the detention of a number of high-ranking officials by the Organized Crime Unit on Thursday, the premier slammed the police for what he called a “theatrical operation” which he said was damaging to the reputation of the Czech Military Intelligence Service and the whole of the Czech Republic. With regard to the charges of bribery levelled against two former Civic Democrat MPs, the prime minister defended the practice of non-monetary political bartering, which he said was standard practice in politics anywhere.
The vice- chairman of the ruling TOP 09 party, Miroslav Kalousek, expressed support for the prime minister saying he saw no reason for the government to resign if Mr. Nečas dismisses the suspected individuals from the Office of the Government. Opposition MPs called for immediate resignation of the Prime Minister and early parliamentary elections. In the evening, chairwoman of the third coalition party LIDEM, Karolína Peake, said that she is expecting the prime minister to give a detailed explanation of his aide’s actions, and added that her confidence in Mr. Nečas has dropped “below the freezing point”.
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06/14/2013
The leadership of the Civic Democratic Party met on Friday evening to discuss the current political crisis and decide on further steps the party will take. One of the deputy chairmen of the party, Petr Pospíšil, told reporters during a recess that he thinks the governing coalition is not in danger right now. Deputy chairman of the Civic Democratic association of Central Bohemia, Raduan Nwelati, said before the meeting that he feels that although Prime Minister Nečas has not committed any wrongdoings himself, he should take responsibility for the unlawful actions of his closest colleagues.
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06/14/2013
Milan Komárek has been named the new head of the Anti-Corruption Unit of the Czech Police. He is replacing Tomáš Martinec, who left the post in mid-May following a complaint from the Prague High State Attorney Lenka Bradáčová. Mr. Komárek was previously the deputy director of the criminal police and investigation unit of the Central Bohemian region. After being named to the new position, Mr. Komárek said that he wants the Anti-Corruption Unit to work on fewer, but more significant cases, and to develop closer cooperation with other units of the police force.
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06/14/2013
Střelecký island in central Prague will be closed most likely until the end of summer, after being submerged for a number of days during the recent floods. The island was under large-scale renovation at the time of the flooding, and many of the renovated parts of the island as well as construction equipment was damaged by the water, which rose up to a meter and a half above the island’s surface. The renovation work, which was supposed to draw to a close in early June, began last October and was originally meant to cost 80 million crowns. Střelecký island is the site of many outdoor festivals throughout the year. An international music festival organized by the magazine Respect scheduled for this weekend was moved to a different location because of the damage to the island.
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06/14/2013
Famous Czech actor Ivan Trojan has received the Outstanding Actor Award in the Mini-series category at the prestigious Monte-Carlo Television Festival. Mr. Trojan was given the award for his role in the HBO mini-series “The Burning Bush”, directed by Agnieszka Holland. The three-part TV movie, which focuses on the self-immolation of the student Jan Palach in Prague in 1969 premiered in the Czech Republic this January.
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