Final Word from Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Chief Justice Pavel Rychetský of the Constitutional Court told Lidové noviny in Aug. 2017 that he had spoken once with Kateřina Valachová while she was education minister about a subsidy for Lužánky tennis club of Brno, because it hosted an annual charity event for disabled children under his auspices. He said in MFD a year later that he had asked her to make sure the subsidy application was judged fairly. The police took testimony in mid-2018 from him and several politicians (Valachová, Marian Jurečka, Jaroslav Faltýnek) but didn't end up charging any of them. Yesterday, five sports officials and two sports unions were indicted for rigging subsidies. Is this why Rychetský asked the minister that the subsidy for his favorite project be treated fairly? Because he knew that it would otherwise get short shrift? As in the defense-procurement case of Marek Dalík, Czechs are being asked by state prosecutors to accept that a government system was thoroughly corrupt but that the PM, the cabinet and the appropriate minister were left entirely out of the loop. The fish, it seems, rots from the tail up. [ Czech Republic FAČR ČSU sports soccer football association Miroslav Pelta Jansta Miroslav Pelta ]
Glossary of difficult words
to indict - formally to charge with a crime;
under the auspices of - with the help, support or protection of;
to rig - to manage or conduct (something) fraudulently so as to gain an advantage;
short shrift - rapid and unsympathetic dismissal;
in (or out of) the loop - aware (or unaware) of information known to only a privileged few.