President Petr Pavel appointed Eva Decroix, an MP and deputy leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), as Justice Minister at Prague Castle this morning. Decroix, 43, will take over the post from her party colleague Pavel Blazek, who resigned after accepting a controversial cryptocurrency donation.
Decroix is leaving her positions on parliamentary committees, but will remain vice-chair of the ODS parliamentary group.
The President said he expected the successor to Pavel Blazek (ODS) not to investigate the affair, but to use her actions to shed light on the case and provide transparency.
After appointing the new minister, Pavel said the Finance Ministry, police, prosecutors and the Security Information Service (BIS) civilian counterintelligence to all contribute to the investigation of the case. He added that weaknesses in the system should be identified so that the case cannot be repeated.
“The role of the Minister is not to investigate, but to provide as much space as possible to bring light and transparency into the case, to let the public know what really happened,” said Pavel. “Public trust in institutions and the state is at stake, and we cannot afford to gamble with that, not least because we are in the midst of a tense election campaign,” he said. He also said he had confidence that Decroix would bring the case to a successful conclusion with transparency.
Blazek accepted a gift worth CZK 1 billion for the ministry from a man convicted of embezzlement, drug trafficking and illegal weapons sales. He defended the donation by saying that there was nothing illegal about the transaction and that the bitcoins were not proven to be the proceeds of crime. He denied that money laundering was involved.
Decroix plans to shed light on the case with an audit of its processes and rules by an outside firm. She plans to make the results of the audit available to the public by the end of August, before the October parliamentary elections. The President was briefed on the situation during their half-hour meeting on Monday.
Marek Benda, ODS parliamentary group leader, told CTK that Decroix is leaving her positions on parliamentary committees, but she remains deputy leader of the ODS parliamentary group.
The new minister should also push through the Senate the legislative changes prepared by Blazek, including amendments to the Criminal Code.
“If this state of affairs was achieved over many years, it would be an extraordinary pity if this were to fall under the table,” the president said. He wished Decroix much strength, noting that she will be under enormous pressure.
