PRAGUE – Czech Justice Minister Pavel Blažek (ODS, ECR) has resigned following a scandal over a €40 million bitcoin “donation” from a convicted drug vendor.
Blažek claims he acted legally however stepped right down to restrict harm to the federal government. The donation – round 468 bitcoins – got here from Tomáš Jiřikovský, beforehand jailed for operating an unlawful on-line drug market and bitcoin theft. Although courts couldn’t show the crypto had felony origins, suspicions triggered investigations into potential cash laundering, abuse of energy, and drug offences.
“I’m not conscious of any unlawful actions,” Blažek wrote on X, however criticism got here from throughout the political spectrum. Inside Minister Vít Rakušan (STAN, EPP) referred to as the transaction “extremely uncommon” and dangerous to the federal government’s picture. Authorities have frozen the bitcoins to dam additional transfers.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS, ECR) welcomed the resignation and promised a swift substitute. No successor has but been named.
The scandal has prompted a rare parliamentary session for five June, with opposition events demanding the federal government’s resignation – although this stays unlikely given the coalition’s agency majority.
