Final Word from Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Robert Fremr withdrew his name from consideration yesterday for a position on the Constitutional Court in part because "indiscriminate media pressure from certain media" had become unbearable for him and his family. He said that he wanted to emphasize that it was only "certain media" that had acted in this way, because most had behaved "absolutely fairly." He gave no indication which media outlets he had in mind. Recall, though, that he had said last week that he sometimes had the feeling that the "campaign" against him wasn't so much about him. Czech TV ran Fremr's withdrawal from consideration as its lead story in its evening news last night but made no mention of his reference to "certain media." Yet it was Czech TV itself that had fed the "campaign" by finding in a survey of the CR's 81 senators last Tues. that only five would openly continue to support his nomination. There was a clear tendency on the part of ČT over the past week to call Fremr's nomination into question. This is only one case, but a major one, and it could perhaps signal a big shift at Czech TV once the top management officially changes on Oct. 1. [ Czech Republic Television Jan Souček ]