Police say election attack on Civic Democrat leader could have been ordered

Police are investigating an attack on former prime minister and Civic Democrat leader Mirek Topolánek. He was injured on Friday after objects were thrown at him while he was on the campaign trail ahead of October’s parliamentary elections. After previously ruling it out, police now say that the attack could have been “ordered,” stirring up speculation about who might have been behind it. But the circumstances surrounding the incident are still confused.

Mirek Topolánek, photo: CTK

Mr Topolánek was injured above the right eye after coming under attack while on the election trail ahead of elections on October 9 and 10. He was campaigning at an open air swimming pool at Hustopeče, southern Moravia. Police said they were searching for four men who had stoned him and were seen leaving the scene on Friday in a car with a Prague registration number. They originally dismissed the idea that the attack could have been ordered.

The investigation appears to have taken a new turn following an interview on commercial television station Nova with a security guard who claims to be one of the four attackers. He said on Saturday that he and the three other men were offered tens of thousands of crowns to attack Topolánek. But he said they only threw eggs, not stones, and their intention was only to stir things up during the elections and not to cause injury.

Jiří Paroubek under the egg attack during the EP elections campaign, photo: CTK

The man said he came forward because the man who ordered the attack did not keep to the original agreement to hand over the rest of the cash. He said he and his fellow attackers originally met the man at a concert where they providing security and only knew his first name. Since that interview was screened, police say they have new evidence, that they know the identity of two of the attackers and that the attack could have been ordered and that eggs and not stones might have been used.

The attack has been condemned by the Civic Democrats’ main election opponents, the Social Democrats. Their nominee heading the ministry of the interior, Martin Pecina, has suggested stepped up police security at election meetings with around six weeks of campaigning still to go. But that suggestion has been dismissed by Mirek Topolánek. He has said this would only distance the public from politicians and scare them off coming to meetings and it might actually increase the risk of disturbances.

The Social Democrats have also called for the main political parties to sign up to a memorandum pledging themselves to a clean and decent election campaign. They have recalled that their leader, Jiří Paroubek, was subjected to an unprecedented campaign of egg throwing during the previous European Parliament elections and say this set the scene for the latest attack. They previously accused the ODS of being behind the egg campaign.

The idea that the latest attack on Topolánek might have been ordered in some way has of course excited media speculation about who could profit most from that. While the Civic Democrats have been keen not be seen making political capital out of the attack, most newspapers agree that the images of their bloodied leader could evoke some sympathy and help wipe out memories of the “scandal” over his recent Tuscan holiday.