Democracy in the CR

Any campaign against tunnelers needs to be consistent and nonpolitical. The West has been put in the uncomfortable position of having to defend one of Russia's biggest crooks, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, because Vladimir Putin unfairly singled him out for a Siberian vacation. ČSSD has done little to combat the CR's own mini-Khodorkovskys, but a court found Tomáš Pitr of Setuza guilty this week on a decade-old tax-fraud charge and sentenced him to eight years in jail. And yesterday the police filed charges against Eduard Onderka of Nomura. Both were involved in dubious dealings, but the timing of the decisions is worrisome: Setuza and Nomura are thorns in ČSSD's side at the moment. The CR is no Russia, so the U.S. Senate can't be expected to issue a protest (as it did for Khodorkovsky). But this clearly isn't how a Western democracy is supposed to work. [Czech Republic VAT value-added tax IPB ČSOB České pivo tunneling]