President Pavel’s office received the threatening information early on Tuesday morning. Credit: Petr Pavel, via Facebook.
Prague, July 19 (CTK) – Prague Police have today detained a man from Ceska Lipa in the Liberec Region, who claimed in an anonymous email sent to the Presidential Office that there were explosives in the office of President Petr Pavel.
Pavel told reporters that he believed the act arose from the frustration of one individual. The perpetrator faces up to three years in prison for scaremongering if convicted.
The Presidential Office received the threatening anonymous information at around 2am on 18 July, claiming that there were explosives at Prague Castle that could be detonated remotely. The case was taken over by criminal investigators from the extremism and terrorism department.
The detectives tracked down the suspect within a few hours and arrested him, in cooperation with local police from Ceska Lipa, Prague police spokesman Richard Hrdina said. Further investigation revealed that the 41-year-old man had already sent 14 similar threatening emails and had been convicted twice in the past of property crimes
“I have been informed about the matter, and that the man has been identified by the police. I think we cannot take such threats lightly or ignore them, but on the other hand, they speak more of an individual’s frustration than of any fundamental threat,” said Pavel on Tuesday, during a visit to the South Bohemia Region.
