Ex-PM's wife issues guidebook for brothel operators

Prague, May 22 (CTK) - Petra Paroubkova, MP and former Czech Social Democrat prime minister Jiri Paroubek's wife who owns a publishing house, has issued Brothel as Business, a guidebook for brothel operators by Austrian author Alexander Gerhardinger, daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) writes Tuesday.

Paroubkova who surprisingly bought a majority stake in the Columbus publishing house last year, says she does not mind the book dealing with a rather sensitive issue and indirectly promoting prostitution.

Gerhardinger, a celebrity among brother owners, "has written a business guidebook. He describes his way of acquiring girls and helping them solve problems, and also how he fights against pimping," Paroubkova is quoted as saying.

She said the book also explains how clients are protected and what the system of medical check ups looks like.

She feels no ethical trouble issuing such a book.

"He who publishes thrillers is no murderer either," she said.

Paroubkova emphasised that she loves literature of fiction. To publish such works, however, she needs to earn money by issuing a spicy book. She said she expects the "guidebook for brothel operators" to become a bestseller in the Czech Republic, also sought by readers who do not intend to run a brothel.

The participants in the book's presentation on Thursday are invited for a visit to the K5 night club in Prague, organised by Paroubkova, MfD writes.

Her husband, who recently established a new party, National Socialists-21st Century Left (LEV 21), said he can see no problem in Petra, his second wife, publishing such books.

"She publishes Russian authors and books on crime. This [Brothel as Business] will probably be a commercial success. This is her business project," Paroubek is quoted as saying.

Paroubkova has evidently not drawn a lesson from the story of another former Social Democrat PM, Stanislav Gross, whose reputation suffered a blow after it turned out that his family's friend, Libuse Barkova, owned a house hosting a nightclub.