A matter of national importance

OKD remains the most controversial Czech privatization of the past 30 years. It was the single-biggest factor in the self-destruction of ČSSD and helped the rabble-rousers Miloš Zeman and Andrej Babiš get elected. Most of the protesters on the street don't realize it, but preventing these two politicians (and Justice Min. Marie Benešová) from instigating a thorough investigation and prosecution of the OKD events is one of the main reasons for the existence of such institutional support for the effort to bring down the Babiš government. EU subsidies and Stork's Nest are merely a means to this end. The OKD saga entered a new phase on Fri., when Czech Radio released a 2013 letter from Benešová to Supreme State Prosecutor Pavel Zeman asking him to take action against Zdeněk Bakala. Czech Radio didn't give its source, but the letter was apparently leaked by Pavel Zeman's office or his subordinates. For some, not prosecuting OKD is now a matter of national importance.