TOP 09 leader Schwarzenberg questioned by police over “blackmail” statement

TOP 09 leader and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said on Sunday he had been questioned by the police in connection with an earlier statement he made to the effect that the three rebel Civic Democrat MPs were blackmailing the ruling coalition. Mr. Schwarzenberg said that he had confirmed making the statement and stood by his words, although he did not believe the MPs actions constituted a criminal offense but rather reflected the “darker side of politics”. Investigators have charged the former MPs with corruption on the grounds that they vacated their posts, and allowed the government’s controversial tax package to pass through parliament, in return for lucrative posts in state-owned companies.