Prague - Judge Vojtěch Cepl Jr. has said that the outcome of the Qatari prince case and the influence of then Justice Minister Pavel Němec in the matter brought to mind so-called "judicial mafia".
Cepl pointed out similarities between the specific circumstances in the investigation of controversial politician Jiří Čunek, head of Christian Democrats, and in the case against Hamid bin Abdul Sani.
It appears however, that no one will be brought to justice for the possible manipulation of the Qatari prince´s case.
Currently, it is not even known if the Czech courts will reopen the case.
Prince convicted but sent home
In 2005 Qatari Prince Hamid bin Abdul Sani al-Thani was convicted of having sex with four underage girls.
Former Justice Minister Pavel Němec was trying to send the prince back to Qatar after being assured prince Sani would face prosecution there. Czech prosecutors protested against the exminister´s efforts and went on to sentence the prince to 30 months in prison.
Nonetheless, Pavel Němec did manage to send the convicted prince back to Qatar which terminated the prince´s prosecution in mid-March this year.
Now, as of the middle of June, the Municipal Court in Prague is still waiting for an official confirmation of the case suspension from Qatar.
"We told the Ministry of Justice about the urgency. At the moent the document has not arrived yet," said Municipal Court spokesman Luboš Vlasák.
As soon as it arrives, a judicial translation will be needed before the court can decide whether to reopen Sání's trial.
An unofficial copy of the decision of the Qatar authorities has been in the Czech Republic for at least two months. According to media reports, the decision is only three pages long and asserts that Sání has been punished enough by the investigation itself and his detention.
Affair is over for Němec too
Not even former Justice Minister Pavel Němec - the man who decided to hand the prince over to Qatar authorities - has anything to fear. According to Aktuálně.cz, the case will not be reopened.
"This case has been suspended by the public prosecutor and it doesn't befit us to reopen it. New grounds would have to emerge for the case to be taken up again," explained Roman Skřepek, a spokesperson for the anti-corruption police.
Even the public prosecutor for Prague 2 is not considering reopening the case, despite the fact that he was entirely responsible for the indictment.
"The suspension was decided by the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic, which deemed Němec's actions legal," said Tomáš Bláha, district public prosecutor for Prague 2, who was responsible for looking into the ex-minister's actions.
Even before the aforementioned decision by the Supreme Court, its vice-chairman in charge of criminal affairs wrote an article for a professional magazine, in which he supported the minister and his decision to hand over the case to the Qatari authorities.
Every member of the Supreme Court later went on to give a similar decision on the case.
"I myself find the actions of the ex-minister unusual but the investigation on its own didn't prove anything," explained Bláha.
New attempts to look into Němec's actions
The first request to look into Němec's handling of the case was made by prosecutor Marie Benešová. In 2005 she was dismissed from her position by the government at the suggestion of Pavel Němec. In that same year, the case was also suspended.
Benešová was followed by Renáta Vesecká who actually reopened the case on suspicion of abuse of power by a public servant and bribery.
The second investigation however, also ended with the case being suspended.
