John under investigation for corruption

The coalition government has been rocked after police were requested to launch an investigation into Interior Minister Radek John over allegations of corruption.

The request by the Central Registry of Debtors (CERD) to the police focuses on allegedly overpriced contracts involving a publishing company that John was linked to, an insurance company and the state forestry company Lesy ČR.

Ora Print, the publishing company, allegedly overcharged for publishing books and magazines for the other companies.

CERD bases its request to the police on figures that came into its possession relating to a contract between the print company and the insurance company.

John, the leader of Public Affairs party (VV), a member of the governing coalition, said the allegations against him were "absurd" and suggested that the timing of the request had more to do more with politics than justice.

"I have learned about it only from the media," he said, suggesting that the first he knew about the request was from the public domain and not an inside tip-off. "There can be no clearer signal sent to the Czech Republic than that no matter how absurd an accusation, it will be fully investigated. I am convinced no new information that would lead to my prosecution will be revealed. I can only wonder at the coincidence in timing at my appointment as interior minister and the notification about the criminal complaint. It should be added that I have responded countless times to all the questions about me and ties with the board of the Ora Print company, with which I never had any ownership relationship whatsoever.

"Of course, I will provide the investigators with the maximum cooperation, and I would like to say that there will be no interference by the Interior Ministry with the independent investigation."

Jiří Jehlička of CERD confirmed to The Prague Post that a request to investigate John had been filed with the police July 20.

"John can be investigated, and if the police find grounds for prosecution, Parliament can vote on stripping him of his immunity. If the investigation goes smoothly, I expect it might take about six months," he said.

Jehlička believes John has a case to answer and said he occupied a leading role in the printing company.

"John signed the contracts. He was a leading member of the board of the company, so he was fully responsible. Leading managers have high salaries for a reason, to bear full responsibility for the contracts," he said.

By sheer coincidence, on July 21, a day after the request was filed, the government formally approved a proposal to limit the immunity of senators and deputies. The proposed constitutional amendment would, if passed by Parliament, limit the immunity of legislators to their terms of office, though Parliament can vote to strip them of immunity.

"We do not provide any information about the process of investigating a complaint," Pavla Kopecká, Police Presidium spokesman, told The Prague Post. "We are obliged to look into every complaint we receive. If the investigated person has a case to answer and has immunity, we have to ask Parliament to overturn their immunity."

 The main opposition party, the Social Democrats (ČSSD), has called the affair "scandalous."

"We want John to show clear evidence that he is innocent," said Jeroným Tejc, shadow interior minister, adding that John was unsuitable to remain interior minister. "It is one of the reasons for which the ČSSD cannot give a confidence vote to the Nečas government; we have considerable doubts about Radek John as interior minister. If anyone expected full transparency from the new government and the proclaimed new political style, they must now be as disappointed as we are."

There is no escaping the fact that having one of the most senior members of the Cabinet facing allegations of corruption is deeply embarrassing for a government that pledged to fight the scourge of corruption, according to an official at an anti-corruption watchdog.

"We will have to wait and see, but it is not a good start for the government, especially one that wants to fight corruption," Petr Jansa, head of legal advice at Transparency International, told The Prague Post. "The alleged facts were known before the election, so it is no surprise he is facing an investigation. It is obvious people will try to discredit the government; only the investigation will tell us if the discrediting is justified. John can surprise people, and besides, he is not the only problematic figure in the new government."

In an indication of just how tough the fight against corruption is in the Czech Republic, the Supreme State Attorney's office reports that crime associated with corruption is actually declining but admits that its own figures do not give a true picture of the extent of corruption.

According to the office's annual report, 112 people were investigated on corruption charges in 2009 compared with 126 the year before.

However, Transparency International believes the authorities responsible for criminal investigations are not carrying out their work properly. It was impossible that the number of people investigated and charged could go down when the degree of corruption in the country was on the rise, Transparency International said.

- Klára Jiřičná contributed to this report.