Litvínov - The north Bohemian town of Litvínov that became infamous for the violent demonstration of neo-Nazis against the local Roma community shows much more serious ills.
As Aktuálně.cz learned, some of the local authorities not only receive lucrative commissions from the town hall but also are connected to people in the underworld.
"People with controversial past, to say the least, have infiltrated the local politics," former town hall mayor Dušan Belák (Party for Open Society) said for Aktuálně.cz.
"As a result the town hall is now managed by people who are friends and do business together from all the political parties," added Belák.
Criminals around
Three years ago the Ministry of Interior conducted a study in which it transpired that several mafia groups operate in the 27-thousand town of Litvínov.
"Some of the criminal elements are linked to the town officials," says the analysis, which Aktuálně.cz has got hold of. "The links are made through civic associations and business activities."
Years later the town hall officials changed but the problems remain.
Litvínov ransom
It was eight years ago when it was first noted that Litvínov has a "rich" crime scene. At that time a pop singer Martin Maxa was shot in front of a local music club.
From reports and witness confessions it soon became clear that there is a group linked to a company owned by Martin Macháček and Kamil Havelka that stands behind some of the crimes. Fights, injuries and sometimes even murders were nothing uncommon at that time.
As the witnesses said, this group demanded ransom from music clubs, bars and restaurants. The criminals would storm in a bar, beat up a person or two and then offered the owner to become his or her bouncer.
But the pop singer refused to cooperate and it almost cost him his life. A bullet missed his head by a few centimeters.
Badly beaten
A man who was willing to testify against the mafia group at a court hearing was badly beaten up.
"People who wanted to rule the entertainment industry in town wanted everybody to know what is going to happen to them should they stand in their way," the judge Kamila Krajcarová wrote in the finding at that time.
The people that used to work for Macháček and Havelka were either criminals or victims of their crimes. Some of them died but Macháček was persecuted only once - in 2008 for beating up a policeman in plain clothes.
"The charge was always filed against Macháček but Havelka was behind it all," says a man who used to work for Macháček. He asked Aktuálně.cz to stay anonymous.
In 2004, Havelka described his own business activites for private TV Nova this way: "Because I am an owner of a security firm, I have an agreement with local bar owners to protect their businesses."
"This region is full of ills and there is no man that can say he is not corrupt. Everybody has dirty feet," he added.
According to witness Martin Láter, Kamil Havelka is said to have called the witness shortly he was beaten.
Politically active
Today Kamil Havelka appears to be a respected citizen. Despite his past and the fact he and Martin Macháček co-own two companies (one of them is a debt collecting firm), Havelka is among the top ranked officials in the town of Litvínov.
Soon after his friend from a judo club Martin Klika (Social Democrats - ČSSD) was elected a deputy mayor, Havelka became a vice-chairman of Litvínov's ČSSD and was appointed a member of the citizen care town council.
He is also a member of the hockey club HC Litvínov and member of the Board of Supervisors of Sportas, a company that administers the hockey stadium.
"Mr. Havelka is politically active and as a vice-chairman of local ČSSD he is entitled to come to meetings," says former town hall mayor Dušan Belák.
Havelka has recently got involved in the Roma issue in the Janov estate. As a representative of ČSSD he held talks with the owners of the Janov houses in which Roma people live.
Booming business
With Havelka's rising career private company Allkon has been flourishing. Havelka is linked to Allkon and since the moment Klika became a mayor of Litvínov, the company received commissions worth CZK 30 million.
ČSSD chairman Jiří Paroubek was present at an opening of a hotel Eurorellax, half-owned by Allkon, which indicates the hotel management's close connection to ČSSD.
However, Havelka downplays his role in the local politics.
"I am far from being a politician," says the tall man in a leather jacket. But he quickly added he likes politics because one can get hold of information.
He refused to be photographed and recorded. Neither does he want the public to know his face or what exactly his business is. "It is none of your business. It is my private thing," says Havelka.
"I am just an ordinary man and I do what 90 percent of people do," Havelka said in a restaurant run by Allkon, accompanied by Martin Macháček.
"I don't see any problem. We are not in contact," said Havelka when asked if he does not mind to be linked to the underworld as a politician. "The companies Macháček and I own together are not active. We used to collect debts but we don't do it any more," Havelka added.
And why did he call the witness who was to testify against Macháček at a court and who was beaten up later on?
"I don't recall such a thing. Maybe I called him but I definately did not try to influence him," Havelka said. "We are very good friends with Martin Láter [the beaten up witness] now."
During the reporting in Litvínov, Havelka let the Aktuálně.cz journalists know he does not like their presence and work in town.
Deputy mayor Klika does not mind being in touch with a man with dark past. "We have been friends for over 27 years," Klika said in an email to Aktuálně.cz, having declined an interview request. "I don't see any problem with his past."
