A clean slate

As the rain poured down outside Prague's Pankrác Prison Jan. 3, two newly released inmates stood waiting patiently for their tram to freedom. The men, who called themselves Karel and Roman, are among more than 7,400 of the country's 23,000 prisoners benefiting from a blanket amnesty declared by President Václav Klaus during his final New Year's Day address.

Clutching a carrier bag containing a handful of personal belongings, Karel said he was very happy to be out of jail. He had been one-third of the way through a 20-month sentence for theft, but after being independently assessed by a judge - one of many drafted in to deal with the sheer volume of cases - the seven-time convict was again sent on his way.   

"I heard about it the evening before," he said. "The curator spoke to us and told us what would happen. Then we were just sitting there hoping to be let out."

The amnesty mainly applies to those serving jail terms of less than one year, as well as to a small number of inmates over the age of 75 whose sentence is not more than 10 years. Judges also have the power to reduce jail terms if the crime doesn't relate to offenses such as causing death or serious bodily harm.

In addition, all suspended sentences under two years have been quashed, while cases going through the courts that have lasted for more than eight years will be halted, provided they carry a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.

Addressing journalists at a press conference Jan. 2, Justice Minister Pavel Blažek revealed how he had found out about Klaus' decision just before Christmas but couldn't give details of the amnesty earlier for fear of unrest breaking out among inmates. "Furthermore, it was impossible to assign any checking of the persons in question in case we violated secrecy rules," Blažek said.

Officials expect the move will ease overcrowding in the Czech Republic's 36 jails, where the total capacity currently stands at 108 percent. However, the president's concession, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Divorce (when Czechoslovakia split into its two present-day countries), has been met with as much delight from the general public as the recent wet weather.

A Median agency poll conducted for Czech Television Jan. 4 showed 82.5 percent of people disagree with the extent of the amnesty. Much of the anger, coming from all sides of the political spectrum, centers on the second part of the decree, Article 2, which affects several high-profile but unresolved cases relating to corruption and financial fraud.

Indeed, more than 100,000 people have put their names to an online petition calling on Klaus to reconsider some of his pardons. "We believe this amnesty makes a mockery of the uneasy work of Czech policemen, state attorneys and judges," the petition read.

The Justice Ministry estimates the amnesty will cover more than 32,000 people in total, including 12,200 involved in community work and 330 under house arrest. Meanwhile, of the 7,400-plus convicts, 6,200 had been freed by press time. At Pankrác, all 234 prisoners who fell under the decree have been released, although for many, their futures remain uncertain.

Karel says he doesn't know what he will do next. With a measly 40 Kč in his pocket, the world-weary 30-something - in the absence of friends or family to shelter him - has nowhere to go. When asked if he thought he would be back to prison in the future, Karel replied, "You bet I will." His friend, Roman, is more fortunate: He has a home, but says that is no thanks to the system.

"Prison takes away your family, your home, everything in your life," he said. "They haven't given us much help. As for cash, it depends on what you have at that moment. I had about 300 Kč, but they immediately took about half for prison purposes. So now I'm left with 147 Kč."

Despite these criticisms, the Prison Service says it has provided amnestied inmates with civilian dress and enough money to get home. Those without a fixed address or job should turn to charities and their local unemployment office, said Prison Service spokesman Robert Káčer. In response, the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry has instructed offices across the country to beef up resources to meet the extra demand.

Job seekers fresh out of jail are entitled to approximately 2,000 Kč per month during their first two months of unemployment, while a one-off emergency payment of 1,000 Kč is available to those in material need. Given that benefit requests can take up to a month to be processed, Jan Frank, chairman of the nonprofit organization Za branou, which specializes in aiding released prisoners, says the additional funds could make a big difference.

"I've been overwhelmed by the kindness of some members of the public who have personally expressed a willingness to house or give career advice to these people," he added. "In the short to medium term, we're doing everything we can to help them out. We're also encouraging them to contact soup kitchens and homeless shelters."

But with temporary accommodation already full to bursting during the winter months, there are concerns many of the amnestied inmates will be making a quick return to the relative warmth of jail. While officers stepped up their patrols around major prisons in the days following the amnesty, the Police Presidium reported 66 crimes and misdemeanors had been committed by newly released prisoners between Jan. 3 and Jan. 5.

One former convict was charged with manslaughter after a 55-year-old man was found dead in Cheb Jan. 5. He had suffered facial wounds and other injuries. Elsewhere, two men were arrested within hours of their release from the high-security Valdice Prison in east Bohemia, having been accused of stealing money from a bar and attempting to break into a parked car. Miroslav Scheinost, director of the Institute for Criminology and Social Prevention, doesn't find this surprising.

"The support offered to released prisoners is minimal," he said. "The amnesty would have to have been prepared at least six months ago for it to be sufficient. The question is whether the prisoners' social networks are in place. If any factors like job, family or support against alcoholism are missing, the risk of repeat offending increases." 

According to Scheinost, the recidivism rate in the Czech Republic is around 65 percent. Assuming, as the Prison Service does, that the cost of keeping an inmate in jail amounts to 1,000 Kč per day, this would slash the slated annual savings of some 2.5 billion Kč to less than 1 billion Kč. Káčer, though, points to the amnesty's other benefits.

"We've had to deal with overcrowded prisons for the last four years," he said. "Now we're back to safer levels. This means we can improve security, as well as the cell conditions and quality of rehabilitation programs for our prisoners. Less-crowded prisons can only lead to fewer instances of tension between inmates."

While this may help to explain Article 1 of the amnesty, with Klaus saying it should teach a lesson to judges who have been too quick to hand out custodial sentences, the president has come under growing pressure over his decision to put the brakes on a number of big, long-running corruption cases. Media commentators have accused him of protecting suspected fraudsters and rewarding those who intentionally stall their trials.

However, Klaus - nodding to a supposed European Court of Human Rights ruling that deems it excessive for court cases to drag on longer than six years - defended the move by telling daily Mladá fronta Dnes he wanted the amnesty to be far-reaching.

"By no means was it or could it be tailored for individuals," he said. "I think it would be a huge mistake if I knew the individual cases and decided accordingly. I did not have any concrete case in mind, nor did I examine any."

Such comments will do nothing to calm the frustrations of the tens of thousands of people who have lost billions of crowns in tunneling cases, though. Notable pardons include three managers of the construction company H-System, who promised affordable housing before stripping buyers of nearly 1 billion Kč, and five managers of Union Bank, which collapsed in 2003, resulting in the disappearance of more than 17 billion Kč in savings belonging to its 130,000 members.

Now, if they want to seek compensation, the alleged victims will have to take their claims to the civil courts, where the onus is on them to prove they have been wronged.

"The chances of these people mounting a successful claim are minimal," said Martin Holub, a lawyer at Šafra & Partners. "Even if they group themselves together, they are unlikely to possess the money or resources to progress their case. And even if they do succeed, after years of legal wrangling, they will probably be confronted by defendants who have no means to pay them."

Although the amnesty was rubberstamped by Prime Minister Petr Nečas (Civic Democratic Party, ODS) in accordance with the Constitution, the ODS's other coalition partners have tried to distance themselves from the decree. TOP 09 Chairman Karel Schwarzenberg said his party was not consulted over Klaus' plans, while LIDEM leader Karolína Peake has demanded an explanation from Nečas at the next Cabinet meeting.

As for the opposition camp, the Social Democrats (ČSSD) have tabled a no-confidence vote against the government in the wake of Nečas' approval of the amnesty, which ČSSD Chairman Bohuslav Sobotka labeled "unacceptable, unjust and outrageous."

"We consider it scandalous that the amnesty will set free the protagonists of big financial crimes, including the siphoning off of banks' and firms' assets, fraud during privatizations and tax evasion worth billions of crowns," he said.

The amnesty may now be challenged in the Constitutional Court, after a group of senators led by Alena Dernerová vowed to sign a proposal to abolish some of its scope.

- Monika Ticháčková contributed to this report.

Jonathan Crane can be reached at
jcrane@praguepost.com