Zeman: amnesty also pardoned incompetent members of judiciary

Mr. Klaus’s successor, Miloš Zeman, said on Saturday that the amnesty had also pardoned the incompetence of judges and state prosecutors, who had proven incapable of concluding cases in a timely manner. He repeated, however, that he was opposed to the amnesty. Mr. Zeman, who will be sworn in as president next Friday morning, also revealed that he had refused to sign the oath of allegiance with a gold-plated pen valued at CZK 1 million. It was offered to him by the South Bohemian firm Koh-i-noor Hardtmuth, which prior to its nationalisation provided pens to Czechoslovakia’s presidents. The president-elect said the company should donate the money to schools in its region.