Czech justice minister resigns over a donated bitcoin scandal
Czech Republic Justice Minister Pavel Blažek resigned from his post over a bitcoin-related scandal on Friday.
Blažek was under fire from the opposition after his ministry accepted a donation of bitcoins and sold them for about 1 billion Czech koruna (more than $45 million) earlier this year.
Blažek said that he wasn't aware of any wrongdoing, but didn't want the four-party coalition government led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala to be harmed by the scandal. Fiala said that he appreciated his resignation and believed that Blažek acted with goodwill.
Blažek was a close ally of Fiala in the government, and also in his conservative Civic Democratic Party. It's not clear who might replace him.
The issue focused on the fact that the bitcoins were donated to the ministry by a person who was previously convicted of drug dealing and other crimes. The opposition has accused Blažek of possible money laundering, because it wasn't clear where the bitcoins came from. It was also not clear why the person donated the bitcoins to the ministry.
The issue has been investigated by the police organized crime unit. The scandal took place just months before the Oct 3-4 parliamentary election. The main opposition ANO (YES) party led by former populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is predicted to win the vote.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
27 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Heathrow boss should never have had phone on silent, says Virgin Atlantic chief
The chief executive of Virgin Atlantic has hit out at the boss of Heathrow for muting his phone while he slept as a fire broke out at the airport, leading to thousands of delayed and cancelled flights. Shai Weiss said as the head of an airline he would 'never' put his phone on silent because the job required round the clock attention. Last week an internal report into the incident found Thomas Woldbye, who was paid £3.2m last year, was uncontactable for the first seven hours of the airport's shutdown because his phone had been switched to silent mode before he went to sleep. Speaking at an airline industry event, Mr Weiss said: 'The last time I put my phone on silent when running an airline was – never. I think all of my colleagues would share that observation. 'This is a 24/7 job and safety and security are the number one priority.' Mr Woldbye also came under fire from Sir Tim Clark, the Emirates Airline chief, who said that Heathrow had been 'caught short' by the outage that created such turmoil on March 31. He said: 'They were floundering around trying to think what had actually happened. 'It ranged from sabotage by a foreign actor to a meltdown at a substation through to mice running around and doing all sorts. 'Nobody really had any idea. That was a bit of a shock. If they haven't learned from that they never will.' Sir Tim said it had come as a shock to him that Heathrow had no supplementary power supply that would kick in when the outage hit. He said Emirates employees 'have eyes on every single aspect of our operation 24/7. 'We've learnt from our mistakes. We never close our eyes. If we did we'd be in trouble. Insurrection, coup, fire or whatever it may be. It happens all the time.' Willie Walsh, chief executive of the International Air Transport Association, said the shutdown of Heathrow had undermined Labour's bid to restore Britain's status as a major economic force. He said: 'The fact remains that a single point of failure brought the country's global connectivity to a halt. A government that promotes 'a Britain back on the world stage' should understand how unacceptable such a vulnerability is. 'It cannot be 'Britain's back, provided there's power.'' Airlines expect compensation Mr Weiss said he expects Heathrow to begin compensating airlines for the cost of the outage now that an inquiry commissioned by the airport, and led by former transport secretary Ruth Kelly, has published its findings. He said that the disruption 'cost a lot of money' and that Virgin and other airlines had been 'very clear' with Heathrow management about their expectations regarding compensation. Mr Weiss added: 'We have put in a request and we expect them to do the right thing. We agreed with them to hear some responses from the Kelly report and others, which have recently been published. But once the dust settles, our bill is coming.' Mr Weiss previously said that had he been in Mr Woldbye's position he would have 'rushed to the airport at that moment. All CEOs are geared for that.' It was initially reported that Mr Woldbye went to bed at around 12.30am having been made aware of the fire, leaving the decision to close the airport to his deputy, Javier Echave. The Kelly report said that was not the case and that he had retired to bed unaware of the situation and 'was not involved' in the decision to shut down for 24 hours. Alerts known as F24 alarms were sent to Mr Woldbye's mobile at 00:21 and 01:52 to activate emergency procedures and Mr Echave tried to call him several times. The report said: 'Mr Woldbye first became aware of the incident at approximately 06:45 on March 21, and received a debrief from Mr Echave.'
Auto Express
34 minutes ago
- Auto Express
Car Deal of the Day: new Omoda 5, with all the kit you might need, for less than £200 per month
Distinctive-looking family SUV Range-topping model with extensive kit list £193 per month with £2,675 initial payment The Omoda 5 arrived in the UK just last year, in the hope of tempting customers away from the ever-popular Nissan Qashqai by going big on value. That's especially true now, because you can get a range-topping model of the rather snazzy-looking SUV for less than £200 per month through the Auto Express Find A Car service. This two-year lease deal we found for the new petrol Omoda 5 Noble comes from Leasing Options and it requires an initial payment of £2,675, followed by monthly payments of £193. The deal is based on a 5,000-mile annual limit, which should be plenty if you're just pottering around town, but bumping it up to 8,000 miles per year costs less than an extra £20 per month. Advertisement - Article continues below In top-flight Noble trim, the Omoda 5 features dual 10.25-inch displays, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, an eight-speaker Sony sound system, 50W wireless charging pad, a sunroof, a powered tailgate, heated seats, heated steering wheel and keyless entry. On top of all that, you also get a well equipped driver-assistance suite, including a 360-degree surround-view camera system, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot detection and traffic-jam assist. Meanwhile, under the bonnet is a 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine that produces 183bhp and 275Nm of torque, and is paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. It's not the most powerful car in its class, but has enough oomph to get from 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds. Although the car does without any level of hybrid assistance, Omoda says you'll average up to 31.4mpg at best. The Car Deal of the Day selections we make are taken from our own Auto Express Find A Car deals service, which includes the best current offers from car retailers and leasing companies around the UK. Terms and conditions apply, while prices and offers are subject to change and limited availability. If this deal expires, you can find more top Omoda 5 leasing offers from leading providers on our Omoda 5 deals hub page… Check out the Omoda 5 Deal of the Day or take a look at our previous Car Deal of the Day selection here… Find a car with the experts 2026 Land Rover Defender updates look subtle, but they fix one huge annoyance for owners 2026 Land Rover Defender updates look subtle, but they fix one huge annoyance for owners Land Rover has introduced new, larger white-painted steel wheels for models with big brakes, fixing one massive irritation with the previous generatio… Electric car drivers won't ever go back to petrol or diesel Electric car drivers won't ever go back to petrol or diesel Editor Paul Barker thinks the EV transition is coming whether we like it or not The MG HS just got hot! New 221bhp Hybrid+ model joins line-up The MG HS just got hot! New 221bhp Hybrid+ model joins line-up The Hybrid+ gives the MG HS another tool to take on the Dacia Bigster
The Sun
43 minutes ago
- The Sun
Transfer news LIVE: Gakpo ‘eyed by Bayern', Rodrygo makes U-TURN, Cherki ‘wants City move', Chelsea close in on Delap
Benjamin Sesko latest According to Sky in Germany, Andrea Berta and Marcel Schafer held a secret meeting in regards to Benjamin Sesko. As mentioned before, Benjamin Sesko is now the No1 target for Arsenal this summer, with Leipzig looking to get the deal over the line as soon as possible. The Gunners will be in no rush to acquire Sesko, with other clubs seemingly backing off, or looking at other options. With that said, the Gunners, according to reports, have a verbal agreement with the Swede ahead of any deal this summer. Leipzig's Sesko will cost Arsenal around £70 million, with Gyokeres coming in somewhere between the £60-90 million region, with reports all suggesting Sporting CP want a different price.
