Justice minister Taťána Malá steps down after 13 days in office

Justice minister Taťána Malá has resigned on her post after 13 days in office following allegations that she plagiarised parts of her university thesis. Ms Malá, who made the announcement on Monday evening, maintains that she is innocent and says the accusations are part of a campaign against her.

Czech Radio reported last week that Ms Malá’s thesis contained undeclared passages from another student’s published work and in one instance she even copied the original text along with two typing errors.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš says he could temporarily also serve as minister of justice in a coalition his party in planning with the Social democrats. He is expected to meet with president Miloš Zeman on Tuesday to discuss the proposal.