Court rules police head to remain in custody

The Prague district court ruled on Sunday that the head of the city’s municipal police force, Vladimír Kotrouš, will remain in custody, meeting a request by the state attorney who had expressed the concern that the police head could otherwise influence witnesses. Mr Kotrouš was stopped in his car in Prague on Friday afternoon after allegedly accepting a bribe – apparently related to the provision of services for the police force; unbeknownst to him he had been under investigation for some time. Members of the country’s anti-organised crime unit worked late into Friday evening securing evidence and sealing off the head office at Prague’s Municipal Police headquarters. Vladimír Kotrouš has headed Prague’s Municipal Police since 2002, but has been with the force ten years longer than that.