Kasal demanded Blesk's apology for having linked him to the former Soviet intelligence service. The US has upheld lower-level courts' verdicts.
It said politicians must get accustomed to facing a larger portion of criticism and the media attention. In an article published five years ago and citing unnamed sources, Blesk depicted Kasal, then leading official of the junior ruling Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), as a former agent of the Soviet intelligence service (GRU). Shortly afterwards Blesk conceded in another article that it had based its article on information which turned out to be fabricated. The US rejected Kasal's complaint a fortnight ago but only now it has placed the Vaclav Klaus re-elected Czech president ...
Putin vows 'arms race' response ...
Police checking of Czech Deputy PM Bursik unfounded - attorney ... verdict on the Internet. "Politicians, senior public officials and widely known people must accept a larger portion of public criticism, compared with other citizens, the judges said. This is necessary for the sake of the discussion on public affairs and of the free making of opinions. "A politician inevitably and knowingly presents each of his words and deeds to journalists and the public for control, therefore he/she must show a higher tolerance level in this respect," the US said. Three lower-level courts previously decided that the article in Blesk, published shortly before the KDU-CSL was to elect its new leadership, could not harm Kasal's rights as it provided information on anonymous documents without asserting that Kasal really cooperated with the Soviet secret service.
(Ceske Noviny)
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