The Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas (ODS) axed the Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil (ODS) yesterday, after a hastily arranged press conference of which Pospíšil claims to have had no warning. Nečas, known more for his hesitancy, acted with unprecedented speed, justifying the move on vague grounds of budgetary recklessness. The former minister had demanded the budget of his ministry to be increased by CZK 1bn in order to improve the situation in overcrowded Czech prisons.
There’s been speculation among the politicians that the real reason for firing Pospíšil was that he planned to appoint Lenka Bradáčová, the Ústí nad Labem prosecutor. Her star has rocketed since she caught a truly big fish in a corruption dragnet: the former Central Bohemian regional governor David Rath. One of her tasks at the new post would be overseeing CASA investigation, one of the biggest corruption cases involving the 2009 purchase of CASA transport aircrafts by the Czech Defense Ministry, said to be overpriced by CZK 658m.
