Czech thuggery

Miloš Melčák, a ČSSD rebel who is about to help ODS form a government, fears that someone wanted to poison him. Paroubek is no Putin, and it's comical to think that Melčák is important enough to be the next Litvinenko. When it comes to serious business, though, Czech gangsters aren't above knocking someone off. The 17 murders in the heating-oil scam and the hired killing of František Mrázek are the best examples, but there are many more untimely deaths that still raise doubts. For example, Škoda Auto Chair Ludvík Kalma smashed into a truck in 1996; Michael Hobbs of Atlantik FT was found dead in his flat in 1997; Hugo Michael Sekyra of AliaChem was "suicided" in 1998; Miroslav Kalousek's brother-in-law died in 2002; Deputy Prague Police Chief Zdeněk Janíček committed suicide by stabbing himself 29 times in 2005. When you have this, who needs Putin?