Rampula moves to keep his deputy in office

Prague’s chief prosecutor Vlastimil Rampula who returned to office last week on the grounds of a court ruling which invalidated his dismissal six months ago, has countered a move by his predecessor to sack his deputy Libor Grygárek. Mr. Rampula said he had found the reasons cited for Mr. Grygárek’s dismissal inadequate. One of the reasons cited was Mr. Grygarek’s ties to a Prague lobbyist. The move is seen as part of Mr. Rampula’s efforts to regain ground and consolidate his position at the High State Attorney’s Office in Prague. Meanwhile his superior Supreme State Attorney Pavel Zeman and Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil have said they will continue to seek ways to secure Mr. Rampula’s dismissal. The latter is suspected of sweeping cases of large-scale corruption under the carpet.