Miloš Zeman grants his 20th presidential pardon

President Miloš Zeman has granted his twentieth presidential pardon since being elected in 2013, his spokesman Jiří Ovčáček told the Czech News Agency on Tuesday. The recipient of the latest pardon is a chronically ill man charged with tax evasion.

Prior to his election, President Zeman had said that he would only grant pardons in very exceptional cases, and transferred the power to conduct clemency reviews to the minister of justice.His most controversial pardon was of the country’s most notorious prisoner, Jiří Kajínek, who was then released after serving 23 years of a life sentence for two contract killings. The president said he was not convinced of Kajínek’s guilt.