Immunity by other means

The outrage over the cabinet's deal with Nomura continues. It's one of the rare occasions when no one other than those directly involved is defending the arrangement. HN's Jan Macháček said the pardon request for Nomura's managers is one of the biggest post-1989 scandals. ČSSD's Bohuslav Sobotka said in Právo that it will lead other financial groups to seek immunity. The IPB affair only reached such proportions, though, because Nomura became an enemy of the state. Numerous other injustices of similar magnitude have disappeared by much more mundane means. Hardly anyone shouts "Scandal!" when statutes of limitations run out or prosecutors drag their feet. Tens days ago, a judge quietly released two men suspected of huge gasoline- tax fraud, on the grounds that they committed no crime. This, and not Nomura-like pardons, will remain the norm in the CR. [Czech Republic Hospodářské noviny VAT excise-tax]