Supreme Court rules in favour of journalist in wiretapping case

The Supreme Court has ruled that a court order allowing the police to tap journalist Janek Kroupa’s phone in connection with an investigation of a suspect purchase of hardware for the Czech military was illegal.

The court said such an order should only be made in exceptional cases in which the court would properly justify why it was violating the given journalist‘s right to privacy and right to protect his/her source.

Czech Radio‘s investigative journalist Janek Kroupa filed a complaint against the fact that his phone was tapped in 2012, saying that he had moreover not been informed about it afterwards.

According to Czech law the police have a duty to inform people that they had been tapped in connection with an investigation.