Justice Ministry apologizes to Czech Radio journalist for illegal wiretapping

The Ministry of Justice has apologized to Czech Radio’s investigative journalist Janek Kroupa for having illegally wiretapped his phone for a period of over five months in 2011 and 2012 in connection with an investigation into suspected corruption involving the purchase of Pandur armoured vehicles for the military.

The police wiretapped Kroupa and several other top officials in order to ascertain who had leaked information from police files on the case.

The ministry was ordered to apologize by the Supreme Court which ruled that it had overstepped its powers and that journalists could only be wiretapped in exceptional cases.