Police investigate leak of Savoy meeting

Aktuálně.cz national news reporters
17. 4. 2008 6:00
A video of delicate political meeting went public then
Jiří Weigl on a stillshot from the video published first by Aktualne.cz
Jiří Weigl on a stillshot from the video published first by Aktualne.cz | Foto: Aktuálně.cz

Prague - In February, the Czech presidential elections saw the incumbent president Václav Klaus backed by the governing Civic Democratic Party (ODS) re-elected for the second term. Klaus beat his rival Jan Švejnar who was supported by the Greens as well as by Social Democrats.

The whole event was highly emotional and marked by many controversies, suspicions and accusations of shady-dealings.

Read more: ONLINE from Prague Castle - Czech presidential election

A major turmoil erupted a few days before the elections, as Aktualne.cz released a video footage capturing the chief of the presidential office Jiří Weigl secretly meeting a controversial lobbyist Miroslav Šlouf linked to the former Social Democratic (ČSSD) Prime Minister Miloš Zeman in Prague's Savoy hotel.

Anti-mafia unit investigating a minor offense

The video played a key role because it displayed one of the closest advisors of Václav Klaus meeting with a person seen by many as an enfant terrible of the Czech politics, known for example for his connections to and friendship with the mafia boss František Mrázek who was assassinated in 2006.

Read more: If re-elected, Klaus can hamper euro adoption

After Aktualne.cz had released the videorecording of the meeting and Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek had spoken of a Social Democratic conspiracy, security organs began an intense campaign aimed at one goal - find out where the media got hold of the video.

One of the key figuers participating in the hunt is an elite police force that is obliged by law to investigate the most serious criminal offences linked to violent mafia activities - the Organized Crime Detection Unit (ÚOOZ).

However, the state prosecution admits that the whole Savoy Hotel case theoretically involves only one possible criminal offence - unauthorized manipulation with personal data.

According to what Aktualne.cz has learnt, Interior Minister's Inspection and the civil intelligence unit have joined the effort too, thus there are currently three security organs investigating the case.

Rendezvous event remains foggy

The information Aktualne.cz disposes of implies that so far, the investigation has been performed in a totally uncoordinated manner - individual offices are not sharing data and persons involved in the case are thus repeatedly approached and asked to provide the same information. 

After the two months of investigations, Právo daily has informed that the ÚOOZ has not found any proofs that would back Prime Minister's allegations of the Social Democratic conspiracy.

The findings made by Interior Minister's Inspection and the intelligence are not known yet, it is however already clear that even the fourth actor is about to join the investigation efforts - the civilian counterintelligence, or the second of the four Czech Republic's intelligence agencies.

Read more: Spy-quake: Czech secret services to be streamlined

In sum, while the information leak is being intensely investigated by major security offices, the very reasons of why the chief of the presidential office had secretly met with a controversial political figure remains unknown - and is likely to remain so since no investigation is taking place at all.

 

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