Incoming Justice Minister Eva Decroix (ODS) and ANO deputy parliamentary leader Alena Schillerova stated on Czech Television yesterday that they have an email suggesting Deputy Justice Minister Karel Dvorak (STAN) was aware of the offer from a convicted criminal to the Justice Ministry of CZK 1 billion of bitcoin.
The donor, Tomas Jirikovsky, was previously convicted of embezzlement, drug trafficking and illegal weapon dealing. The police are investigating the case, and the High Public Prosecutor’s Office in Olomouc is examining it on suspicion of three criminal offences, including abuse of office and money laundering.
Decroix told the Questions from Vaclav Moravec talk show that she was unable to assess at the moment whether Dvorak should continue in his position.
STAN Senator Ondrej Lochman said in the same debate that he had not seen the document but believed that such accusations were false.
Decroix said the email indicated that the matter had been discussed at a meeting of the ministry’s leadership sometime in December 2024, and that the document had been assigned to Dvorak. She also stressed that at this stage facts were still being gathered and she could not assess whether Dvorak should continue to be a deputy minister.
“There is communication within the Justice Ministry showing that Deputy Minister Dvorak knew about this,” said Schillerova. Asked whether she would transfer the electronic communication to the police, she said she would handle it as it should be handled.
Dvorak earlier wrote that he would like to cooperate with Decroix on the investigation of the case, due to which Justice Minister Pavel Blazek (ODS) has already resigned. Dvorak reiterated that he was not involved in the affair.
In earlier media interviews, Dvorak said that of all the documents on the case, he had seen one letter from Jirikovsky’s lawyer and the ministry’s response.
Commenting on today’s information from the televised debate, Dvorak wrote on social media that it was a letter with the lawyer’s offer that his client would donate one-third of the value of the cryptocurrencies on his devices to the state if the court returned them to him.
“The ministry responded that only the court can decide to hand over the items and everything must be done according to the law. That’s it. That’s why I was surprised to learn from the media a few months later that the donation had actually been given to the ministry,” Dvorak said.
“It’s an accusation that I assume is false,” said Senator Lochman, commenting on the email.
Dvorak, who is the leader of the STAN candidate list in Prague for the autumn parliamentary elections, was not in charge of the letter and the ministry’s response, said Lochman. “STAN is not involved in this, don’t try to drag STAN into this,” he added.
The opposition ANO and SPD are calling for the resignation of the entire coalition cabinet of Petr Fiala (ODS) over the scandal. ANO MPs will initiate a lower house session to vote no confidence in the government. The opposition Pirates are demanding the resignation of Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura (ODS), who they say knew about the intention of the donation and had done nothing.
Earlier on Sunday, STAN Deputy Leader and MEP Jan Farsky told CNN Prima News TV that his party would be ready to support the government in a no-confidence vote in the Czech parliament over the bitcoin case, though further talks this week would be decisive. He said leaving the government at this point would not be right or responsible.
Pavel Blazek has resigned as the Justice Minister and as the head of the ODS South Moravian regional branch. He has also suspended his membership of the party and will not run in the autumn parliamentary elections. Blazek said he had underestimated the matter and described his action as a mistake. However, he also stressed that it was not a case of corruption.
