Incoming Czech Justice Minister Eva Decroix (ODS) will commission an audit of the Ministry by an external firm over the recent bitcoin scandal, and plans to present its results to the public by the end of August, she told reporters today.
She will also present the government with a timeline of the events leading to the controversial donation of bitcoin to the Justice Ministry immediately after taking office, and wants to bring in an independent coordinator from the judiciary to report on the matter impartially, she said at a press conference ahead of an urgent session of the Chamber of Deputies initiated by the opposition ANO movement.
Decroix will replace her party colleague Pavel Blazek as Justice Minister next week. Blazek resigned after it came to light that his ministry had accepted CZK 1 billion of bitcoins from a convicted drug trafficker.
“I am aware of the gravity of the situation that led to the resignation of my predecessor,” Decroix said. “I want to take over the Justice Ministry with the clear objective of restoring confidence in the judiciary and ensuring that similar situations cannot occur again.”
The minister-designate also stressed that the ministry would cooperate with all authorities and institutions currently dealing with the bitcoin case.
“As the incoming minister, I will comment on any specific steps, persons and circumstances related to the ongoing case with the utmost restraint, in order to eliminate any sense of politicisation of the case which may undermine confidence in the impartiality and independence of the judiciary,” she said, adding that she was not authorised to interfere in any way in the investigation.
She wants to create the conditions for the investigation to be carried out independently and thoroughly, she noted.
Decroix plans to discuss the name of the independent coordinator with government coalition partners beforehand, and possibly with the opposition. It should be a lawyer respected in judicial circles, who will provide information regularly, factually and without speculation, she added.
The Justice Ministry accepted bitcoins from Tomas Jirikovsky, who was convicted in 2017 for embezzlement, drug trafficking and illegal weapons trading. Blazek defended himself by saying there was nothing illegal about the CZK 1 billion cryptocurrency transaction, and that it was not proven that the gift came from criminal activity. He also denied the transaction was money laundering.
President Petr Pavel told MPs on Tuesday that the case had extremely harmful potential, could reduce trust in justice and institutions, and harm the Czech Republic abroad.
The National Centre against Organised Crime (NCOZ) and the High Public Prosecutor’s Office in Olomouc are dealing with the case on suspicion of three criminal offences: abuse of office, laundering of the proceeds of crime, and illegal production and other disposal of drugs.
