Czech PM denies obstructing inquiries into organised crime

PRAGUE: Czech prime minister Jiri Paroubek has denied blocking prosecutors' attempts to fight organised crime, as opinion polls suggest he is facing a tough fight to retain power in this week's general election.

The head of the Czech Republic's organised crime squad, Jan Kubice, told a parliamentary committee that he believed senior members of government were obstructing investigations and had allowed Mafia gangs to gain political influence.

"I believe organised crime has penetrated the state administration," Mr Kubice said, according to a transcript of his report quoted by Czech media.

"The security risk mainly concerns the state's security, economic and political stability," he said, adding that investigations into three major cases had uncovered "an absolutely clear link between senior civil servants and organised crime". But Mr Paroubek, whose Social Democrats are neck-and-neck with the opposition Civic Democratic Party (ODS) ahead of elections on Friday and Saturday, dismissed the allegations.

"It was not proven that I, the interior minister, or the police chief had politically influenced [ any cases]," Mr Paroubek insisted, calling on Czechs to "defend democracy against the putschist practices of the Civic Democratic Party".

"The ODS leadership has realised that it is destined for defeat in the discussion on social affairs and public development," Mr Paroubek added.

"Therefore, it decided at the end of the election campaign to tap the arsenal of violence, demagogy and manipulation."

Mr Paroubek has already filed a criminal complaint for slander against ODS leader Mirek Topolanek after he accused him of having links to the Prague Mafia during one of three televised debates.

Mr Topolanek, who is alleged to have close ties with Mr Kubice, called the premier's reaction to the latest accusations "absurd and desperate", and said his party believed the Social Democrats were "the most serious threat to the political and security stability of the Czech Republic since 1989", when communist rule collapsed.

Since gaining power in 1998, the Social Democrats have led the Czech Republic into the EU and Nato, nurtured strong economic growth and attracted foreign investment, helping to bring down unemployment and fund a comprehensive welfare system.

Mr Topolanek's ODS says cost-cutting reforms are essential to drive the economy, however, and advocates an overhaul of healthcare, pensions and benefits and the introduction of a 15 per cent flat-rate tax on all income.