Prague - It is not only notoriously known names like Tomáš Pitr or Radovan Krejčíř, convicts who have been sentenced but are on the run. In fact, it is thousands of men and women who escape serving their jail sentence as well.
Seven thousand
Paradoxically, the state might consider itself lucky because of this situation.
Currently, about 7,000 people who have been sentenced are avoiding jail. If all of them were suddenly to give in and were imprisoned, the current prison facilities would not suffice.
Today, the Czech Republic has 18,000 inmates and very little space for more.
There are new jails being built and the old ones getting enhanced. On top of that, the Justice Ministry is planning to introduce a "home confinement" status, which should spare some space in Czech prisons.
Three years for jail dodging
A Criminal Act amendment that is to come into force in January 2009 will introduce new measures that would force sentenced people to stop avoiding prison.
The act of avoiding serving jail sentence will be punishable with three years in prison. Within the current legislative framework, it is not punishable at all.
Policeman on the run
An example of a "jail dodger" is Radek Kurdiovský from Brno, south Moravia. A former member of the elite police force got drunk once with his friend before accidentally killing him with a shotgun.
He was sentenced with one year in prison last November, though he has never come to serve the sentence.
"As a former police officer he knows his way around. He is very good at hiding," says spokesman of Brno police Bohumil Malášek.
Laborious police work
"Generally, those who avoid sentence can be divided into two groups. Some just don't care about the decision. They don't receive mail, those are, for example, drunkards. Kudriovský belongs to the other group of people who avoid serving their jail sentence intentionally and thoughtfully," explains Malášek.
Every city has a police team whose job is to search for the people who are on the run. The methods being used are mostly based on questioning colleagues and relatives, rather than mobile phone eavesdropping and wild chases.
