Stop the Press?

The Czech political scene was rocked last week by news that the police had foiled an attempt to murder a journalist at one of the country's leading dailies. Four people, including a former Foreign Ministry official, have been arrested in connection with the investigation.

The news that police had averted an assassination attempt against Mlada Fronta Dnes reporter Sabina Slonkova hit the press on 22 July. One of the four people arrested in connection with the case is Karel Srba, a former senior aide to former Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan. The other people arrested in the case are a woman friend of Srba's and two entrepreneurs. Srba has denied any involvement, dismissing the affair as an attempt to discredit him. Kavan, who was in New York City last week to prepare for his new post as head of the U.N. General Assembly, said he had not had any contact with Srba for more than a year and that he was surprised by the news reports.

Police say the plot was foiled after the man who was supposed to have carried out the murder, an ex-convict named Karel Rziepel, revealed the plot to law enforcement officials on 9 July — the day before it was to have taken place. He said he had been hired to kill Slonkova for 200,000 koruna ($6,450) using the Czech explosive Semtex. The police then took Slonkova to an undisclosed location outside of Prague until the investigation was complete.

Rziepel helped lead the police to the other suspects in the case by asking them for money to buy a gun, and then pretending he had actually carried out the murder. Rziepel, who says he has never killed anyone, is not in custody and he is not a suspect in the investigation.

During a search of Srba's home outside Prague, police found some 30 million koruna ($1 million) in cash, according to news reports. Police also reportedly found a photo of Slonkova in the home with the word "liquidation" written on it.

The police have slapped an information embargo on the case, saying it will take several weeks to unravel. Meanwhile, reports surfaced last week that Srba had worked for the military secret service right up until his arrest in connection with this case. While it came out last year that Srba had worked as an agent for the military secret service, Defense Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik said he was surprised to find out that the former Foreign Ministry aide was still employed at the service. The minister said he had called for a special team of officials to investigate Srba's contacts with the secret service.

At the same time, he said he had dismissed the head of the military secret service, Andor Sandor, but he added that the dismissal was not connected to the alleged assassination plot or to Srba. Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla said he welcomed Tvrdik's decision to launch an investigation into Srba's connections but added that he had "no indications" that the military service was involved in the alleged assassination plot. The new foreign minister, Cyril Svoboda, has launched an investigation into past practices at the ministry.

While many politicians in the country have called for a thorough investigation of the affair, some have also called for Kavan to resign because of his past connections with Srba. In addition, to his post as chairman of the U.N. General Assembly, Kavan is also a Czech representative to the convention on the future of the European Union and a member of the lower house of the Czech parliament.

MORE STORIES Ukraine: Kuchmagate: Two Years On Slovakia: Meciar Beaten, NATO looms Republika Srpska: In Bed With Iraq? Slovenia: Still want to join E.U.? Russia: Chechen threat from Georgia Macedonia: Opposition Takes Elections SPECIAL Yugoslavia: Nations in Change Transitions Online News from Europe's 28 post-communist countries

But Kavan has insisted that he sees no reason for him to resign, saying he has not seen his former aide during the year and a half since Srba resigned from his position at the Foreign Ministry. "I don't see any reason why some people should suffer for this, either me or his [Srba's] other former employees, who had nothing to do with this," Kavan said on Czech TV on 23 July. Spidla, who met with Kavan on 28 July to discuss the affair, has not called on the former foreign minister to resign. On the contrary, after the meeting Spidla underlined the importance of Kavan serving as the head of the U.N. General Assembly.

Former Health Minister Ivan David, a member of the governing Social Democrats, said he thinks the affair is an intelligence game aimed at discrediting Kavan and Srba. "For me this is not believable enough. Above all, he [Srba] does not have a motive," David was quoted as saying by Mlada fronta Dnes on 24 July. Srba's lawyer Miroslav Krizenecky has told the press he believes the affair was concocted as an attempt to discredit Srba.

Slonkova and her colleague at Mlada Fronta Dnes, Jiri Kubik, have written various articles on scandals involving Srba in the past. In March 2001, Srba was forced to step down from his position as general secretary at the Foreign Ministry amid reports that he had been involved in a dubious contract to rent out a building owned by the Czech government in Moscow. The story was extensively covered by Slonkova and Kubik, who published a report stating that the contract had caused losses of some $3.3 million to the Czech Republic. Later, the two journalists published reports on Srba's large homestead just outside of Prague, noting that he would not have been able to buy such property on his 40,000 koruna-per-month salary at the ministry. Srba said at the time that he had borrowed the money from his mother.

Slonkova and Kubik are well known in the Czech Republic for their investigative articles about Czech politicians and other prominent public figures. In February, they received the Peroutka prize for investigative journalism.

The affair has attracted international attention from various journalists' organizations. The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) issued a statement on 23 July saying it was greatly disturbed by the alleged assassination plot. On 25 July, WAN joined the World Editors Forum in sending an open letter to Czech Interior Minister Stanislav Gross demanding adequate protections for journalists, the Czech news agency CTK reported.

The Czech Syndicate of Journalists says the Slonkova case is proof that the dangerous phenomenon of contract killings is latently present in the Czech Republic. "Contract killings are among the most disgusting crimes that exist, and if the target is a journalist it creates an atmosphere that can dissuade other investigative journalists," Rudolf Zeman, the deputy head of the syndicate, told TOL* on 29 July. He said the syndicate has confidence that the investigation will be carried out appropriately.

*