Thus, it struck many as an odd, if perhaps positive, sign of transparency that the BIS, or Security Information Service, the main Czech police intelligence agency, issued an annual report of its most interesting findings last week. The thick tome has had reporters poring over complex investigations involving unnamed sources making unclear (and certainly scary) allegations. One of the most shocking involved the revelation that three Egyptian men tried to break into the cockpit of a Czech Airlines flight last June — an event that had not surfaced in the media until now.

The details of that incident are sketchy, to say the least: They didn't get in; no one was hurt; the flight was not diverted; they were "detained" upon landing in Prague (the flight had originated in Oslo) and returned to Egypt; it didn't look like a very serious attempt but may have been a trial run; and one of the suspects claimed they were only looking for chewing gum (in the cockpit of a commercial jet while in flight).

The second BIS case to cause jaws to drop all over the country was one stating that, in the words of BIS spokesman Jan Šubert, the agency has "confirmed infiltration of the judiciary by organized crime." Again, no useful specifics, names or even criminal gangs or types of gangs are mentioned in the BIS summary.

Šubert offers only this on the topic: "Prisoners or other clients are given unauthorized advantages by district courts in particular. This occurs through financial awards to judges." The investigators say they have provided specific details to the president and the Cabinet and say they are barred by law from disseminating it to anyone else.

Not surprisingly, the country's main associations of judges and state attorneys, led by Jaromír Jirsa, have demanded that the BIS name names and say what they mean if they are going to go public with a report alleging widespread corruption in the courts.

Newspapers and the general public should demand the same, of course. You achieve two things by announcing that corruption exists in a certain branch of government and stopping there: 1) everyone's trust in that branch is undermined, limiting its ability to function and 2) general paranoia is encouraged to flourish.

If this isn't legally possible, Parliament should either review the law or take the responsibility to release to the electorate what concrete details it can, along with announcing a clear plan to clean up these problems.

Simply announcing that the state's integrity, or safety on airlines for that matter, is at risk, is totally unacceptable.

Czechs still haven't shown much interest in adopting American-style Halloween traditions, preferring to stick with the Nov. 1 custom of honoring the dead by visiting their graves for a few moments of solace and respect.