Justice Minister has no information on Pitr's whereabouts

The Czech justice minister Jiri Pospisil has said he has no information on the whereabouts of controversial businessman Tomas Pitr, who disappeared after failing to show up to start a five-year prison term for tax evasion. Speaking on Czech television on Sunday, the minister said that there are currently 5000 people in the Czech Republic who have avoided serving prison sentences and that he was planning an amendment to the Penal Code that would make avoiding prison as a crime and also deprive anyone that did so of qualifying for parole once they began serving their sentence.

On Friday, a Prague court issued European and international warrants for Mr Pitr's arrest after he failed to show up to serve his sentence and police launched a nationwide search for the controversial entrepreneur. One of his aides later told Czech daily Mlada fronta Dnes that Mr Pitr had had a nervous breakdown and was in a psychiatric facility in north Bohemia. Mr Pitr has lodged an appeal against his sentence with the Supreme Court.