Recent Articles on Radovan Krejcir in The Foreign Press:

Recent Articles on Radovan Krejcir in The Foreign Press:

Fugitive Radovan Krejcir disappears yet again [07-06-2007] By Daniela Lazarova

One of the country’s most notorious fugitives, billionaire Radovan Krejcir, has won another round in his cat-and-mouse game with the Czech authorities. On Monday (03/06/07) evening he was unexpectedly released from a South African prison allegedly because the Czechs had failed to file an extradition request on time. Nobody knows where Krejcir is right now and the authorities in Prague and Johannesburg are arguing over whose fault it is.

Radovan Krejcir, wanted for extensive fraud and conspiracy to murder, has led the Czech authorities a merry dance. In 2005 he managed to give the police the slip while they were raiding his villa - an embarrassing incident that cost the police president his job. For close to two years Krejcir thumbed his nose at the police from the Seychelles where he had acquired citizenship and made a new life for his family. He was rich, carefree - and untouchable. Officials in Prague vowed they would bide their time until he put a foot wrong. Krejcir did, leaving the Seychelles in April of this year and getting arrested on an Interpol warrant as soon as he set foot on South African soil. In Prague, the present and former interior ministers jostled to take the credit. Six weeks ago interior minister Ivan Langer told the press that Krejcir was “half-way home”. Now he may not even be in South Africa, and both the interior and justice ministers are in hot water again. The South African judge who released Krejcir said he could not be detained beyond the 40-day limit without an extradition request from Prague. Under fire Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil insists that his ministry is not to blame:

"I have a letter stating that the extradition papers were to be delivered by June 19th and I would put my head on the block that they would have been there by the given date. My employees have followed standard procedures.”

The minister lays the blame at the door of the South African authorities, saying that none of this would have happened had the court accepted the extradition documents which the Czech side tried to hand over some time ago. They were told the extradition papers were incomplete and would have to be re-worked. The minister’s arguments have not convinced anyone in Johannesburg and not many people in Prague.

The Czech opposition says this is a lame excuse and has called for the dismissal of both the interior and justice ministers. Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek went so far as to suggest the delay may have been intentional:

“This could lead me to any conclusion. For instance I may conclude that a man who was a strong advocate of the Civic Democratic Party and who damaged the Social Democrats with his lies in the last elections has been well rewarded.”

Meanwhile, the Czech media are once again speculating where the elusive Radovan Krejcir could be hiding and what his next step is likely to be. One thing is certain -wherever he is, he must be having a good laugh.

Police hunt Czech freed on technicality

POLICE yesterday (06/06/2007) were looking for an alleged international criminal ring-leader after he was set free by the Johannesburg High Court.

Senior Superintendent Tummi Golding said Czech citizen Radovan Krejcir was sought for extradition to the Czech Republic on fraud charges.

The Star newspaper reported that Krejcir, who was arrested after trying to enter South Africa with false documents, was released on a legal technicality at the Johannesburg High Court on Monday.

His defence team argued that the 40 days the state had to receive extradition papers for the Czech Republic had expired.

The state countered that weekends could not be counted as working days but the judge ruled in favour of the defence.

Krejcir was subsequently released from Modderbee Prison.

The Star also reported that on Interpol’s arrival at the prison on Monday, they were told that prisoners were not released after 4pm, but the defence team managed to make an after-hours arrangement.

Superintendent Golding expressed disappointment at Krejcir’s release but said she was optimistic that he would be caught.

Krejcir reportedly fled the Czech Republic and took shelter in the Seychelles before coming to South Africa. — Sapa

Czech fugitive back in S.Africa custody

By Bate Felix

JOHANNESBURG June 14 (Reuters) - Fugitive Czech businessman Radovan Krejcir is back in South African police custody eight days after walking out of jail on a legal technicality, police said on Thursday.

Krejcir, wanted at home on charges of fraud and conspiracy to commit murder, was released by South African police on June 4 after a 40-day period of waiting for extradition documents from the Czech Republic expired, said a police spokeswoman.

Tumi Golding of crime intelligence and Interpol said they were shocked Krejcir had been released without any notification.

“The police were suppose to call us but they didn’t,” she said.

For over a week, Interpol and the authorities had no idea where Krejcir was until he surrendered to police on Wednesday (13/06/07).

“He is now back in police holding cells and will appear in court on Thursday afternoon,” said Golding.

Krejcir, 38, was arrested in April at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport on an Interpol “red notice”, which allows for an arrest and possible extradition.

As well as the fraud and murder charges, Krejcir is also wanted for illegal arms possession and tax evasion, according to Czech police

EU should unify extradition application procedure

BY PRAGUE DAILY MONITOR/TK / PUBLISHED 15 JUNE 2007

Prague, June 14 (CTK) - The EU will try to unify its procedure of applying for prosecuted persons’ extradition, EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini said in Prague today in connection with the case of fugitive Czech businessmen Radovan Krejcir and Viktor Kozeny.

Closer cooperation in suspects’ extraditing is absolutely necessary, Frattini said at a press conference.

He said he had heard about sensitive cases involving Czech authorities’ efforts to have Krejcir and Kozeny extradited from South Africa and the Bahamas, respectively, to the Czech Republic.

Czech Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil said that, of course, it would be better for extradition applications to be lodged by the whole EU instead of a single country only.

Kozeny, who is suspected of embezzlement worth 16 billion crowns in the Czech Republic, and who is also wanted by the U.S. law enforcement bodies, stays at the Bahamas. He was recently released from Bahamian custody and is waiting for the definitive verdict on his possible extradition to the USA.

The Czech Republic, too, has applied for Kozeny’s extradition.

Krejcir, whom the Czech authorities prosecute for vast property crime and for the preparation of a murder, escaped from the Czech police in mid-2005 and left for the Seychelles.

On April 21, 2007 he was arrested by the South African police at the Czech request. He is in custody in Johannesburg.