Cables offer dim view of Czech politics

The U.S. Embassy in Prague sent a number of diplomatic cables between 2005 and 2010 outlining in great detail the level of corruption that existed in "the mercurial world of Czech politics," according to the most recent document dump by controversial whistle-blowing group WikiLeaks.

Nearly 1,300 cables originating from the Prague Embassy were released Aug. 31, many of which explained to intelligence officials in the United States what Czechs have known for years: Politics in the Czech Republic is a dirty business, very few people trust their elected officials, and even fewer think anything can be done about it.

"The fact that corruption is widely acknowledged, yet tolerated, might be the most discouraging news of all," former U.S. Ambassador William Cabaniss wrote in a September 2005 cable titled Czech Corruption: Bad, and Unlikely to Get Better Soon.

"The Czech public thinks political parties are the most corrupt institutions in the country," Cabaniss wrote, adding, "But the voters don't seem outraged enough to force the parties ... in power into taking meaningful steps to reduce corruption, punish wrongdoers or throw crooked politicians out of office."

The cable was written during a weeklong spate of scandals involving high-level officials including accusations of no-bid defense contracts going to a business owner who had worked for the Defense Ministry, a financial officer for the police accepting a loan worth $200,000 from a "crooked soccer boss" with a criminal case pending, and the Agriculture Ministry awarding a sizable grant to repair the sewer system of a village where the minister's wife was trying to renovate a business. The business was not able to be renovated until the sewer system was improved.

"Cases of corruption are exposed," the cable continued. "But almost without exception, headline-grabbing stories quickly die down or are replaced by the next sensational scandal, and nobody is ever held to account."

Another 2005 cable describes a dispute between then-Justice Minister Pavel Němec and Supreme State Prosecutor Marie Benešová in which Benešová's office accused Němec of exercising a "rarely used power" to overturn verdicts and suspend sentences from cases she had closed. Benešová's deputy met with the U.S. Embassy to explain Němec's actions and told the ambassador he believed Němec was trying to marginalize or remove Benešová before a number of high-profile corruption cases came before her. By the end of 2005, Benešová had been sacked after then-Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek approved her removal from office.

"In the Czech Republic, the sad truth is that political power can be used, and is used, to manipulate the justice system," the cable said.

Additional cables written between '06 and '10 refer to the Czech Republic as the "troublemakers of the EU," accusing President Václav Klaus of engineering the collapse of the government during the country's turn as EU president because of his "personal vendetta against then-PM [Mirek] Topolánek. Others yet describe the "relative immaturity" of Czech democracy, explain the "frequently petty" political climate and accuse the public of not challenging their politicians to change.

"Most Czechs are satisfied with the quality of life but cynical about domestic politics," one diplomat wrote in a November 2009 cable titled 20 Years After the Velvet Revolution: Politics Not So Plush.

"The Czech public," the cable said, "must now learn that the path to political ideals lies not in changing human nature, but in changing the concrete rules and practices to again bring out their better angles, which 20 years ago peacefully overthrew tyranny."

U.S. Embassy Press Attaché Paul Oglesby said he "cannot comment on the authenticity of any documents released by WikiLeaks."

"As a general comment, I can say that the United States strongly condemns any illegal disclosure of private diplomatic communications," he added.

Jack Buehrer can be reached at
jbuehrer@praguepost.com