Opposition MP will be protected by private bodyguards

Opposition Social Democrat MP Evžen Snítilý has told internet news site aktualne.cz he and his family will no longer be protected by police but by private bodyguards, after a commercial broadcaster revealed that the MP’s home was being watched round-the-clock by officers. Only a handful of individuals in the Czech Republic receive similar protection. The move was approved by Interior Minister Ivan Langer after the MP received a death threat in the form of a bullet in a letter, in connection with the recent presidential elections. Mr Snítilý broke party ranks – and was expelled from his party’s deputies club – for voting for incumbent Václav Klaus. He and a number of other Czech politicians received anonymous envelopes containing bullets or in one case gun powder, ahead of the second and decisive vote.