Final Word from Friday, October 8, 2004
One of ODS's arguments in the Zdeněk Kořistka political-corruption affair is that Interior Minister František Bublan is influencing the process. ODS noted that it was Bublan who pushed the idea of a lie-detector test and, when Kořistka passed, ODS hinted that the test was rigged. It's common in the CR for politicians to set the tone of an investigation by declaring before all the facts are in that someone is guilty. The next big test of judicial independence could come when the Constitutional Court hears a complaint about the European arrest warrant, which ODS claims violates the bill of rights. It got little notice at the time, but Chief Justice Pavel Rychetský indicated on Czech Radio in May that the Constitutional Court will look to reinterpret the bill of rights so that the Euro warrant is constitutional. Sounded like his mind was made up before the case was even submitted. polygraph