Rogue Spies Join Bribery Allegations to Sink Czech Premier Necas The government has been rocked by a scandal that erupted June 13 after nighttime police raids resulted in the detention of eight people including Jana Nagyova, the head of Necas’s office. She is charged with abuse of power in ordering the illegal surveillance of three people and is linked to a bribery case, in which prosecutors say former members of parliament were offered jobs at state-controlled companies. Necas’s departure means the automatic resignation of his Cabinet according to Czech law. The three coalition parties, which control 98 seats in the 200-member parliament, have to secure the backing of at least half the deputies to get a new government in power. They have relied on the votes of former coalition deputies who defected their parties to pass legislation. ... Nagyova, who has worked with Necas since at least 2006, was charged along with seven other people including the former and current heads of military intelligence. During the raids, officers from the organized crime police unit seized as much as 150 million koruna ($7.8 million) in cash and some gold after raiding 31 homes. The Czech Republic, a former communist country, ranked 54th of 174 countries in Transparency International’s 2012 corruption perception index, tied with Latvia, Malaysia and Turkey. In the 27-member European Union, only Slovakia, Romania, Italy, Bulgaria and Greece did worse. Civil servants and military officials were charged with abuse of power, while other detainees were charged with bribery and corruption, prosecutor Ivo Istvan said. In the bribery case, ex-lawmakers were offered jobs in state-owned companies, according to Istvan. bloomberg/news/2013-06-16/czech-prime-minister-necas-to-resign-tomorrow-amid-spy-scandal.html
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 23:11:11 +0000
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