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Czech Police Raid Government Offices Czech Police Raid Government Offices
(about 5 hours later)
The organized crime unit of the Czech police raided government offices in Prague early Thursday morning and detained several officials in what was described as an extensive operation, the Czech media reported. PRAGUE — Prime Minister Petr Necas of the Czech Republic said on Thursday that he had no intention of resigning after authorities from an organized crime unit raided government offices in Prague and arrested several officials, including one of his senior aides.
According to the online version of Mlada fronta Dnes, a leading Czech newspaper, those detained included several senior officials from the center-right governing party of Prime Minister Petr Necas, whose coalition government has been rocked by a series of corruption scandals that have pushed it to the brink of collapse. Several hundred officers took part in the nationwide raid that included the defense ministry, government headquarters and City Hall in Prague, the capital, the Czech news media reported. The reports said the police had also searched safe deposit boxes at a branch of Komercni bank in Prague and conducted a sweep of the offices of influential lobbyists.
Among those detained, the newspaper said, was Jana Nagyova, Mr. Necas’s chief of staff. Reports in the Czech media said she had come under scrutiny in the past for receiving large bonuses from the state. Ondrej Palenik, the former head of military intelligence, was also arrested, Mlada fronta Dnes reported, as well as Petr Tluchor and Ivan Fuksa, former members of Parliament from the party of Mr. Necas, both of whom recently resigned under mysterious circumstances. Roman Bocek, a former senior official at the ministry of agriculture, was also detained. Interior Minister Jan Kubice told parliament Thursday that Mr. Necas had been visited by the head of the organized crime unit and two state attorneys. He said the visit was “in connection with a step in the criminal proceedings,” but did not elaborate.
The police declined to comment on the motive for the arrests. The Czech media reported that the organized crime unit raided the government offices in Prague at 12:30 a.m., about 90 minutes after cabinet members had left the building. About 400 officers conducted raids across the country on Wednesday and Thursday, part of the same operation, and the raids were ongoing. According to the online version of Mlada fronta DNES, a leading Czech newspaper, those arrested included Jana Nagyova, the prime minister’s chief of staff and a close and influential aide. Czech news media reports said she had come under scrutiny in the past for receiving large bonuses from the state.
Vaclav Laska, a prominent lawyer specializing in corruption cases, said the arrests were an encouraging sign. He stressed that the prosecution of corruption cases until recently had been rare and the problem persisted because graft and bribery were considered by many Czechs to be a normal part of daily life. Lubomir Poul, the chief of the government office, was also detained, as were Milan Kovanda, the head of military intelligence, and his predecessor, Ondrej Palenok, the newspaper reported.
“Bribery has been perceived in Czech society as something normal and nobody is even surprised to hear about it anymore,” he said. Petr Tluchor and Ivan Fuksa, former members of parliament from Mr. Necas’s party, were detained. Both had recently resigned under unexplained circumstances.
Countries across Eastern and Central Europe and the Balkans have been experiencing a surge of corruption, the legacy of decades of communist rule. The European Union is so concerned about lawlessness among its new members that Romania and Bulgaria, which both entered in 2007, have been blocked from joining the bloc’s visa-free area. In Croatia, which is set to join the European Union in July, former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has been charged with embezzlement. While the motives for the arrests remained unclear on Thursday, analysts said that the detention of a senior member of Mr. Necas’s inner circle threatened to bring down the center-right coalition government, already weak after a series of corruption scandals that had pushed it to the brink of collapse.
In the Czech Republic, the arrests came amid a growing backlash against corruption that has blighted confidence in the political class. In Transparency International’s 2012 Corruption Perception Index, the Czech Republic was ranked 54th alongside Bahrain and Latvia on a list of 176 countries. But Mr. Necas told reporters that he remained confident in Ms. Nagyova and had no reason to think she had done anything illegal. He said he had no intention of resigning.
When the former Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, issued an amnesty decree at the beginning of the year that exonerated dozens of individuals on trial over allegations of financial corruption, the national fury was so intense that some mayors and teachers took his portrait off the walls of their offices and classrooms. Mr. Klaus was subsequently accused of treason, but was exonerated. “I am personally convinced that I did not do anything dishonest and that my colleagues have not done anything dishonest either,” he said. “I expect that law enforcement agencies will quickly explain their reasons for launching such a massive operation.”
Corruption is so rife that one industrious Czech started a corruption bus tour around Prague. One of the stops on the tour is an address that 589 companies registered as their headquarters. President Milos Zeman’s office said he would meet on Friday with Mr. Necas, Justice Minister Pavel Blazek, the national police chief, the chief of public prosecutors and the head of the opposition Social Democrats to discuss how to proceed.

Hama de Goeij contributed reporting from Prague.

The opposition Social Democrats called a party leadership meeting for Thursday afternoon to discuss its response. Some opposition members were already calling for early elections.
Jiri Pehe, a political scientist who is director of New York University in Prague, said that if people close to the prime minister were implicated in corruption, he would come under heavy pressure to resign or face a no-confidence vote. His coalition partners could also withdraw their support and bring the government down. “Unless the police have completely misfired, this could have serious and far-reaching repercussions because it concerns people close to the prime minister,” Mr. Pehe said.
The police declined to comment on the reasons for the arrests. But Pavel Hantak, the spokesman for the organized crime unit, confirmed that an extensive operation had taken place in which several people had been arrested. “We have to be careful about what information we make public and when, so as not to endanger the future of the operation,” he told reporters.
The Czech news media reported that the organized crime unit raided the government headquarters in Prague at 12.30 a.m. on Thursday, about 90 minutes after cabinet members had left the building. About 400 officers conducted raids across the country on Wednesday and Thursday, and the raids were ongoing.
Across east and Central Europe and the Balkans, countries have been grappling with a surge of corruption, a hangover from decades of communist rule.
The European Union is so concerned about rampant lawlessness among its newest members that Romania and neighboring Bulgaria have so far been denied entry into the Union’s passport-free area. In Croatia, which is set to join the European Union in July, former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has been charged with embezzlement.
In the Czech Republic, the arrests come amid a growing backlash against corruption that has blighted confidence in the political class. In Transparency International’s 2012 Corruption Perception Index — in which the lower the ranking, the more corrupt the country is perceived to be — the Czech Republic was ranked 54th alongside Latvia and Bahrain on a list of 176 countries.
When former President Vaclav Klaus issued an amnesty decree at the beginning of the year that exonerated dozens of individuals on trial for suspected financial corruption, the national outrage was so fierce that some mayors and teachers took his portrait off the walls of their offices and classrooms. Mr. Klaus was subsequently accused of treason, an accusation for which he was later cleared.
Karel Janecek, an entrepreneur and leading anticorruption campaigner, said the arrests appeared to be a milestone in a country that had turned a blind eye to corruption for decades. He said that corruption was a byproduct of the crony capitalism of the 1990s when, in the aftermath of communism, state assets were privatized, financial regulation was weak and collusion flourished between government agencies and corporate interests.
Vaclav Laska, a lawyer specializing in corruption cases, added that the prosecution of corruption cases until recently had been rare in a country where graft and bribery were considered a normal part of daily life. "Bribery has been perceived in Czech society as something normal,” he said. “Nobody is even surprised to hear about it anymore.”
Corruption is so endemic that one industrious Czech started a corruption bus safari around Prague. The stops on the tour include fancy villas, hospitals with a reputation for graft and a nonexistent house that 589 companies have registered as their headquarters.

Hama de Goeij contributed reporting.