Well-known lawyer gets suspended sentence for blackmail

Well-known lawyer Kolja Kubicek has been given a two-year sentence suspended for four years, after being found guilty of blackmail. The Prague 6 District Court heard that he had told a plaintiff that if he did not withdraw a charge against a client of Mr Kubicek's he would be involved in a car crash, or would be accused of drug dealing. The lawyer, who has defended contract killer Jiri Kajinek and former Communist politician Karel Hoffmann, immediately appealed the verdict.