Prague, Aug 17 (CTK) – The defence lawyer of former Czech PM’s wife Jana Necasova, who has been tried for several suspected offences, has asked the Pirates Party to remove her portrait from its election bus where it figures together with the portraits of four politicians criticised by the Pirates.
The caricature portraits on the bus are meant to point at scandals surrounding politicians from the mainstream parties.
In the picture, Necasova is holding a puppet of Petr Necas, former prime minister for the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), whose major aide she was and who married her after his cabinet’s fall in 2013. The caricature hints at the suspected abuse of the military intelligence by Necasova (then Nagyova) when Necas was prime minister.
The other caricatures on the Pirates’ bus depict Andrej Babis, ANO leader, former finance minister and a billionaire businessman suspected of a huge subsidy fraud, Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD), the prime minister connected with a previous suspicious privatisation of the OKD mining company, Miroslav Kalousek, opposition TOP 09 chairman and former finance minister criticised for a lenient approach to gambling companies, and David Rath, former regional governor for the CSSD who has been tried for corruption.
“Let us crack down on them! We are the watchdogs!” says a slogan which the Pirates added to the caricatures on the bus.
Necasova’s lawyer Adam Cerny said the Pirates have used her portrait unlawfully. In addition, it promotes physical violence against Necasova by complementing the caricature with the picture of Pirates chairman Ivan Bartos with a truncheon, Cerny said.
The police and courts have been dealing with several cases involving Necasova, but no definitive verdict has been given in any of them.
As a result, Cerny objects that the Pirates’ campaign interferes with the presumption of innocence and with Necasova’s right to a just trial.
He said the caricature may threaten Necasova’s life, health and respectfulness. That is why he demands that the Pirates stop using her portrait and apologise to her.
If the Pirates fail to do so in three days, Cerny will use legal ways to achieve a remedy, with Necasova’s consent, he said.
The Pirates’ spokeswoman said the party has not received any request from Cerny yet. It will react to his letter after its own lawyer studies it, the spokeswoman said.
The Czech Pirates Party (CPS) is one of the strongest extra-parliamentary parties. Its voter preferences stand at about 5 percent, which is the parliament threshold, now.
The party wants to use its campaign bus to crisscross the country ahead of the October 20-21 general election.
