ODS cover-up alleged as prosecutor remains in post

As the imminent dismissal of embattled Supreme State Attorney Renata Vesecká drags on, some former members of Mirek Topolánek's government, under which Vesecká is said to have shelved a key corruption investigation, told The Prague Post that the soft stance taken toward Vesecká is evidence Topolánek's Civic Democratic Party (ODS) is trying to cover its tracks.

"The ODS is blocking the whole thing because they owe her - the former group around Topolánek is what keeps Vesecká alive," said Marie Benešová, the former Supreme State Attorney who coined the term "judiciary mafia" to describe the activities of Vesecká and other top officials involved in influencing a 2007 corruption investigation of Jiří Čunek, then the deputy prime minister in the Topolánek Cabinet and chairman of the Christian Democratic Party (KDU-ČSL).

"However, I believe she may still survive. [Current Justice Minister] Jiří Pospíšil thought he would cut off the octopuses' tentacles, but now it looks as if he might be chopped away himself."

Vesecká is alleged to have repeatedly moved the corruption investigation of Čunek from one prosecutor to another in an attempt to delay proceedings.

"It is obvious she gave in to pressure from Topolánek, who was facing coalition dissolution, and so Vesecká chose the side of political interests instead of justice," František Bublan, a former Social Democrat (ČSSD) Interior Minister told The Prague Post. "Her extended dismissal is because the ODS fears that Vesecká could make some things public, and that she will defend herself, which is something she is excellent at." A statement by Pospíšil (ODS) on Czech Television Oct. 3 implying that Vesecká would be allowed to return to a regional prosecutor post in Hradec Králové, where she formerly worked, prompted around 180 out of the 1,200 state attorneys to sign an open letter asking the minister not to allow her return.

"By law, she will remain a prosecutor even after her dismissal, and if she is dismissed, then the Justice Ministry must discuss further proceedings with the new supreme prosecutor," Pospíšil said.

Jakub Říman, a spokesman for the Justice Ministry, countered in an e-mail to The Prague Post that the minister never explicitly encouraged the return of Vesecká to the regional prosecutor position.

Vesecká's removal was promised by Pospíšil in early September in response to demands from another party in the governing coalition, Public Affairs (VV), which insisted she be removed before October elections, but with elections Oct. 15-16, Vesecká remains in her post. Říman said the delay in her removal is because her chosen replacement, Pavel Zeman, cannot leave his post at Eurojust in The Hague before the end of the year.

VV would not comment on the situation, saying the party had decided to respect media silence along with coalition partners ODS and TOP 09, who will discuss the issue next week, according to Petra Hrušová, a VV spokeswoman.

Benešová called the whole situation "embarrassing puppet theater" and said the government was fast losing credibility.

"[Pospíšil] will not only lose creditability as a minister but also as a lawyer who feared filing a proposal for Vesecká's dismissal, and so he only was a puppet in the hands of others," she said. "And because he will not be a high-ranking official all his life, he will have to bear the shame all his professional life as a lawyer."  

- Klára Jiřičná contributed to this report.

Cat Contiguglia can be reached at ccontiguglia@praguepost.com

Cat Contiguglia can be reached at
ccontiguglia@praguepost.com