President to appoint Decroix as Minister of Justice on Tuesday

President Petr Pavel will appoint the prime minister’s candidate for the post of Minister of Justice, Eva Decroix, to the office on Tuesday. Ms. Decroix confirmed the news after a meeting with the head of state on Monday. The Civic Democrats' deputy chair is expected to replace her party colleague Pavel Blažek, who resigned after it emerged that the Ministry of Justice had accepted a bitcoin donation worth one billion crowns from a man convicted of drug trafficking, embezzlement and illegal possession of weapons.

Last week, Ms. Decroix said she would commission an audit into the ministry’s processes and rules, to be conducted by an external firm. She said she would make the results public by the end of August, ahead of the October general elections. Ms. Decroix asked President Pavel to use his authority to calm the situation so that all communication about the bitcoin case would be based on facts rather than assumptions and speculation.