US embassy cable - 05PRAGUE1275

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 001275 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2015 
TAGS: EZ, KCOR 
SUBJECT: CZECH CORRUPTION FIGHTER UNDER ATTACK BY JUSTICE 
MINISTER 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Mark Canning for reasons 1.4(b) and (d 
) 
 
1. SUMMARY.  (C) In the midst of a very public battle between 
Justice Minister Pavel Nemec and the Supreme State Prosecutor 
(Attorney General) Marie Benesova, Benesova's number two, 
Deputy Attorney General Jaroslav Fenyk, contacted the Embassy 
to air grievances and his version of events. Fenyk provided 
documents, many internal, that he claims show the Justice 
Minister has exercised a rarely used power to overturn 
verdicts, suspend sentences, and interfere in personnel 
assignments. Fenyk was not able to say specifically why Nemec 
has allegedly done this, though he suggested that there are 
several high-profile corruption cases to be prosecuted soon 
and that Nemec might want to remove Benesova before this 
happens. Nemec has prepared a short list of possible 
replacements. Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek, on the other 
hand, has said that it would be politically counterproductive 
to sack Benesova at this time. 
 
2. BACKGROUND. (U) The Czech republic's highest ranking 
prosecutor is Marie Benesova, who has had the position since 
January 15, 1998. Six years is a relatively long time in the 
mercurial world of Czech politics. In that time the nation 
has had 12 Justice Ministers, though both Pavel Rychetsky and 
Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla served more than once in 
acting capacities. The current Justice Minister, Deputy Prime 
Minister Pavel Nemec, took up the post in August, 2004, and 
has been at loggerheads with Benesova the entire time.   Two 
weeks after Nemec assumed the position, he and Benesova had a 
public falling out over the case of Viktor Kozeny, a Czech 
fugitive living in the Bahamas. When asked about the case, 
Benesova's office revealed that although Prague had no 
extradition treaty with the Bahamas, a 1925 treaty between 
Czechoslovakia and Britain would be honored and extradition 
would be requested. Justice Ministry Spokesman Peter Dimun, 
whom Fenyk refers to as the Deputy Justice Minister, went on 
the nation's most widely watched commercial channel, TV Nova, 
to say that Benesova's office had irresponsibly leaked the 
information without consulting the Justice Ministry 
beforehand. Dimun implied that Kozeny, now alerted to the 
possibility of extradition, would take steps to avoid 
prosecution. In defense of Benesova, Fenyk, and former 
Justice Minister Rychetsky both said it would have been 
pointless and dishonest to deny that extradition was being 
pursued. 
 
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NOT EXACTLY A PRINCE OF A FELLOW 
-------------------------------- 
 
3.(C)  One month after the Kozeny incident, Benesova and 
Nemec clashed again when a member of the ruling family of 
Qatar, Hamid Bin Abdul Sani-al Thani, was arrested and 
charged with sexually abusing more than a dozen under-aged 
girls. In April of this year, 3 weeks before the case came to 
trial, Nemec, explaining that bilateral relations were being 
strained, ordered that the Prince be extradited to face trial 
in his homeland. Benesova disagreed, saying that such 
intervention threatened the independence of the Czech 
judicial system, and added that the Prince should be tried in 
the Czech Republic, where the crime was committed, and where 
the witnesses live. In May, the court convicted the prince 
and sentenced him to 30 months in prison, a sentence he 
appealed. Meanwhile, in a separate legal proceeding, after a 
lower court backed up Benesova and ruled Nemec had no 
authority to release the Prince, the Czech Supreme Court 
ruled in favor of Nemec.  The prince was released and has 
since returned to Qatar. Fenyk doubts the Prince will be 
prosecuted at home.  Nevertheless, Benesova's office will 
have to spend roughly half a million crowns (USD 21,000) 
translating all the court documents into Arabic.  Fenyk added 
that a few days after the Supreme Court made the ruling, one 
of the court's vice-presidents, a Mr. Kucera, received a new 
car from the Ministry of Justice. Fenyk also pointed out that 
several of the judges on the Supreme Court had publicly 
stated support for Benesova's stance before issuing their 
ruling, leading to suspicions that someone had gotten to them 
and persuaded them to change their minds. 
 
4. (C) In the aftermath of the case of the Qatari Prince, 
Benesova asked that a survey of similar cases in the past be 
conducted to find out whether a Justice Minister had ever 
overturned or ignored a verdict. The research was conducted 
by Olga Koubova, of the Ministry of Justice's International 
Relations Department. She surveyed several thousand cases 
that predated the case of the Qatari Prince and ten that came 
afterward. She could not find a single case where a previous 
court decision had been overturned. Days after her findings 
were made public she received a one line dismissal notice 
telling her that she was being removed from office. No 
explanation was given. Fenyk had a copy of the dismissal 
notice and passed it to the Embassy. 
 
5. (C) Fenyk also raised other cases in which he alleged that 
Nemec was interfering.  One case involves a bankruptcy judge, 
Jiri Berka, who was arrested in April, 2003, in connection 
with the failure of Union Bank. The case has provoked 
considerable public speculation about the influence of high 
ranking officials, intelligence operatives, and allegations 
of murder contracts on investigative reporters. Fenyk told 
the Embassy that Nemec had been wiretapped speaking with 
suspects in the case. 
 
6. (C) Fenyk also mentioned the case of theft at a military 
base in Pribram, 45 minutes south of Prague.  In that case, 
56 hand grenades and thousands of 7.62mm rounds were stolen. 
10 suspects were convicted and sentenced to prison, though 
the material was never recovered. Nemec tried to have the 
Supreme Court release two of the ten, Tomas Dunaj-Jurco and 
Jaroslav Cerny. Fenyk explained that the Minister of Justice 
has rarely used extraordinary powers to ask that certain 
convicts, for example, a single mother with many children, be 
released from the obligation of serving a sentence. The court 
refused Nemec's request. According to Fenyk, the law only 
allows the Justice Minister to make this request once, but 
Nemec has repeated the request. Since Fenyk cannot imagine 
any legitimate reason why the two convicted of receiving 
stolen grenades and rounds should be freed, he can only 
suspect there is some illegitimate reason behind Nemec's 
determination to pursue their release.  The Supreme Court 
should rule on this soon. 
 
7. (C) Fenyk also complained that Nemec was using a number of 
administrative measures to harass, intimidate and discredit 
Benesova. These measures include a recent audit, that Fenyk 
boasted turned up a discrepancy of only ten dollars, making 
Benesova's office one of the most accountable in the country. 
Fenyk also said Nemec has accused nearly two dozen 
prosecutors, including many in Benesova's office, of unfairly 
prosecuting dissidents in cases before the end of communism 
in 1989. Fenyk himself was one of those so accused. Fenyk 
defended himself by saying that the only person he prosecuted 
was the son of a famous dissident musician.  The son refused 
mandatory military service, a crime according to the Czech 
criminal code. 
 
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WHO WOULD WANT THE JOB? 
----------------------- 
 
8. (U) Newspaper reports say Nemec has drafted a list of five 
possible replacements for Benesova. Fenyk told us that he 
knew that at least one of the persons named had turned the 
job down. He said that anyone who took the position would 
have to fight the perception that he or she had been paid off 
by Nemec. In addition, Fenyk pointed out that with elections, 
and presumably a new Justice Minister, only nine months away, 
serious candidates are going to find the position 
unappealing. Even the Prime Minister has publicly stated that 
it is hard to imagine anyone replacing Benesova, whom he said 
he considers honest and incorruptible. But the wheels are in 
motion, and if she isn't removed before the election next 
June, she's likely to be replaced soon afterwards. 
 
COMMENT: (C) Jimmy Carter once said that the sad duty of 
politics is to establish justice in a sinful world.  In theCzech Republic, the 
sad truth is that political power can be 
used and is used to manipulate the justice system. Benesova 
may be blunt, and at times impolitic, but she is honest, even 
incorruptible, and in the world of Czech politics, that is 
saying something. She has some support among prosecutors, 
some judges, and one small party, the Christian Democrats. 
But the main parties dislike her and the Prime Minister's 
support for her grows weaker with each public statement. If 
Nemec succeeds in removing Benesova, an outcome that looks 
increasingly probable, it is very unlikely that her successor 
will be as persistent and determined to go after cases of 
corruption.  In addition, if Benesova is removed and replaced 
by a political ally of the Justice Minister, many of her 
immediate  subordinates, including those responsible for 
fighting serious economic crimes and who have battled against 
corruption alongside Benesova, say they will leave the 
Prosecutor's office in a show of solidarity. The Czech 
Republic already has a fairly abysmal record in prosecuting 
white collar crime and corruption. Just this week the head of 
the Prime Minister's office was forced to resign when a local 
TV station filmed him at a meeting with a Polish lobbyist 
allegedly discussing illegal payments. Without Benesova and 
her team, a bad situation could get even worse. 
MUNTER