Sleeping with the fishes

When ODS Chair Mirek Topolánek told LN in Aug. that the CR is controlled by a handful of businesspeople, he refused to give any names. He said he wanted to "continue to live in the CR." Later, he said he was just joking. He wasn't joking this week, though, when he accused unnamed politicians of having his phones tapped. His claim got reinforcement today from Zdeněk Šarapatka, who was fired this week as Premier Stanislav Gross's right-hand man. Speaking in HN, Šarapatka said not only that Gross was aware of illegal wiretaps on his own phone, but also that lobbyists and other people around Gross are capable of much worse. "It might not be far from a wiretap to other practices," he said, "and I like life." He refused to say whom he fears. Šarapatka is a disgruntled ex-employee, but his is the most serious accusation yet against Gross and his clan.