Final Word from Tuesday, November 24, 2015
In a thread on Facebook earlier this year, lawyer Radek Pokorný defended the effort by Interior Minister Milan Chovanec to prosecute a man for hoisting about a fake gallows at an anti-immigration rally. What might look at first glance like compassion for refugees is really an effort to increase the power of the state to limit freedom of expression. Gallows are not part of democracy, Chovanec argues. Given Pokorný's support for suppression in this instance, it's surprising that he's on the opposite side of the argument when it comes to the contract registry. Pokorný is rumored to be the author of a Senate version of the law that would reduce the power of the state to suppress criminality in the public-procurement process. PM Bohuslav Sobotka has even come out publicly in favor of the toothless Senate version. Why does it seem that ČSSD's main interest is in suppressing those who might challenge its own abuses of power and authority? [Czech Republic register]
Glossary of difficult words
gallows - a structure, typically of two uprights and a crosspiece, for the hanging of criminals;
to hoist - to raise;
suppression - the act of preventing the development, action or expression of (a feeling, impulse, idea, etc.);
toothless - lacking genuine force or effectiveness.