Selective Kmenta

Any investigative reporter who wields as much power to damage reputations as Jaroslav Kmenta of MFD should himself be beyond reproach. Two of Kmenta's recent comments raise serious questions, though. First, Kmenta told Czech Radio that he left out Martin Fendrych's name in reprints of his book "Kmotr Mrázek," because he agreed that it was superfluous to mention it. Earlier, Kmenta had made a big deal of the fact that Fendrych's name was in Mrázek's phone under the nickname "Fireman." Who else might have persuaded Kmenta to suppress (or highlight) a link to Mrázek? Second, Kmenta flat-out lied when he told Z1 that he had to pay a Kč 10,000 libel award to a company he claimed posed a security risk. The actual libel award was Kč 600,000, plus Kč 70,450 in legal fees. It was apparently the biggest libel judgment in Czech history, but Kmenta selectively chose to remember it otherwise. [Czech Republic mafia MF Dnes Mafra]