Final Word from Monday, December 9, 2019

Supreme State Prosecutor Pavel Zeman rarely addresses the public without mentioning that he isn't a politician. He did this indirectly last week by saying that if someone links his decision in the Stork's Nest case to the law on the state prosecution, he definitely does not. As Pavel Zeman tries to distance himself from politics, his namesake Miloš Zeman tries to draw him further into the political ring. Miloš Zeman told MFD on Sat. that he can't rule out the possibility that Pavel Zeman decided against indicting PM Andrej Babiš because he, the president, had spoken of giving Babiš an abolition pardon. Understood was the idea that if the indictment were reversed by the president, the political impact of the gesture would be muted. Also understood (by us, at least) was a boast on the part of Miloš Zeman that he had succeeded in stifling whatever political ambitions the top prosecutor might have had. In other words, the next Czech president won't be named Zeman. [ Czech Republic attorney general Mladá fronta halt proceedings ]