Jablonec nad Nisou, North Bohemia, May 23 (CTK) – Jiri Kajinek, a contract killer and life convict who was released from prison after President Milos Zeman granted pardon to him today, said pardon was promised to him by former president Vaclav Havel already, and Havel’s successor Vaclav Klaus vowed to help him as well.
The late Havel’s former aide dismissed the allegation, while an aide to Klaus admitted that Klaus was dealing with Kajinek’s case.
Kajinek was sentenced to life in 1998 for killing an entrepreneur and his bodyguard and attempting to kill another bodyguard in 1993.
Havel was the first president of the independent Czech Republic in 1993-2003. Klaus was his successor and Zeman’s predecessor in 2003-2013.
“In 2002, Vaclav Havel promised to grant me a pardon before his tenure expires. I was waiting for long sleepless nights for him to do so. I would have never imagined Vaclav Havel failing to keep his promise,” Kajinek told journalists today, on his departure from prison after 23 years.
Havel’s former spokesman Ladislav Spacek dismissed the allegation.
“This is an utter nonsense, Vaclav Havel never considered anything like this. Never,” Spacek told CTK.
Kajinek said Havel later told him that he would not grant him a pardon, but his successor will do so.
“The next president, Vaclav Klaus, continued telling me for ten years that he was closely watching my case and was going to solve it. He asked me to wait for him to help me get out of jail. After ten years in office, Vaclav Klaus declared an amnesty but he granted no pardons,” Kajinek said.
He alluded to an amnesty that scrapped most of minor prison and suspended sentences and halted the criminal prosecution where more than eight years had elapsed since its beginning, except for suspected crimes carrying more than ten years in prison.
Petr Macinka, from the Vaclav Klaus Institute, told CTK that Klaus really seriously pondered on granting a presidential pardon to Kajinek.
“He felt, as the current President Zeman may feel, that too many doubts surround the verdict imposed on Mr Kajinek,” Macinka said.
Finally, Klaus did not grant a pardon to Kajinek probably because he had lots of other applications including numerous more urgent cases, Macinka said.
Kajinek said Zeman, who was inaugurated president in March 2013, never promised anything to him.
“From the beginning, he repeated that he did not want to grant a pardon to me, but wanted to support the opening of a new trial of mine by a court other than the Plzen one, which is biased,” Kajinek said.
The Plzen Regional Court repeatedly sentenced Kajinek, who has always pleaded not guilty.
Kajinek said Zeman has been promoting a new trial for four years, but failed to push the idea through the judicial bodies.
“I believe that President Milos Zeman decided to intervene and opt for mercy. He did not say I am innocent, but he preferred mercy for me, for which I am grateful to him, of course,” Kajinek said.
He said he took it earnestly when Zeman publicly announced his plan to grant him a pardon earlier this month.
“Of course, I have a bad experience with the previous presidents, so I approached it [Zeman’s promise] soberly and I was waiting, but I was waiting with excitement,” Kajinek added.
