Czech President Milos Zeman was re-elected Saturday in a runoff vote. His supporters punctuated their victory celebration by assaulting Czech journalists. This is the latest attempt in a year-long campaign of intimidation, an effort to stop investigations into his Putin connections and shady operations. This should generate intense scrutiny from international media into what great secret would make Zeman staffers assault journalists.
Zeman Escalating From Threats to Assaults
Zeman has a history of threatening journalists, and his re-election seems to have emboldened him and his staff. This assault is a dangerous escalation. Zeman’s most recent intimidation campaign began in May, with a ‘joke’ to Russian President Vladimir Putin about liquidating journalists. This came at a time when Czech journalists had begun reporting assertively on his ties to questionable people and activities.
“He’s just proving that he has something to hide. Zeman should be worried about the heightened attention from the intel community, not just the journalists.”
A retired U.S. intelligence officer speaking on background suggested that Zeman’s escalation is missing the point. “Obviously, the media are closing in on something, so he’s getting more aggressive toward them. But he doesn’t understand that attacking journalists will only accelerate government interest in him.”
“He’s just proving that he has something to hide. Zeman should be worried about the heightened attention from the intel community, not just the journalists. Journalists play a vital role in exposing and preventing corruption from Russian influence.”
In September, Zeman threatened to “get rid of” a reporter who had been questioning him. A month later, he showed a replica Kalashnikov rifle at a press conference. The rifle was inscribed “For Journalists.” Now, literally on the first day of his renewed grasp of power, his team has moved on to physical assault.
At the Zeman victory party at Prague’s “Top Hotel,” journalists were allowed to move freely among the guests after Zeman’s departure. One of the guests, a journalist, collapsed while drinking. The other journalists and guests went to see what had happened.
Zeman’s officials tried to prevent the media from covering the event. A staffer knocked the television camera out of the hands of a cameraman, and all the other journalists started filming what was happening. The officials then started pushing reporters out of the room, and trying to close a series of sliding partitions. Zeman’s staffer suddenly punched one reporter several times, and tried to continue fighting.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF – Reporters Sans Frontieres) describes what happened. “The videos show how an aide told a reporter to stop filming, jostled him and threw his camera to the ground. A few seconds later, a second aide told a reporter: ‘Go away, take your stuff and go to [losing presidential candidate Jiri] Drahos.’ He then threw a couple of punches at his face.”
“The reporter said: ‘This won’t do, I’ll call the police.’ Responding, ‘I’ll be happy to fight you,’ the aide continued to attack the reporter while colleagues tried to reason with him and pull him away. The first aide then jostled a reporter for the website Seznam and threw his smartphone to the ground to stop him filming.”
Czech Seznam Zpravy reporter Pavlina Kosova posted videos of the confrontation on her Twitter feed. Here is the first video, of the man collapsing. He is treated as if he has had too much to drink: he is escorted roughly to a low stage, and then is allowed to fall on his back and is left alone. Czech media are now reporting that the man suffered a heart attack while drinking.
Štáb prezidenta Miloše Zemana @PrezidentZeman #Volby2018 #prezident2018 #SeznamZprávy #televizeSeznam pic.twitter.com/JEGzoZyUNn
— Pavlína Kosová (@pavlina_kosova) January 27, 2018
And here are two videos of the assaults.
Ve štábu Miloše Zemana padají pěsti #Volby2018 #PrezidentskeVolby2018 #seznamzpravy #televizeseznam pic.twitter.com/Nk3f0q5bGn
— Pavlína Kosová (@pavlina_kosova) January 27, 2018
Ve štábu Miloše Zemana. Podporovatel si dovolil i na mě #Volby2018 #PrezidentskeVolby2018 #seznamzpravy #televizeseznam pic.twitter.com/YHkgoqKZo7
— Pavlína Kosová (@pavlina_kosova) January 27, 2018
International Scrutiny of Zeman Is the Best Response
Reporters asked President Zeman’s spokesman, Jiri Ovcacek, for a comment. He refused to apologize or explain the incident, saying only “I don’t care about it.”
It’s time to expose whatever Zeman is working so hard to conceal.
RSF condemned the assault and called on the Czech government to condemn it in the strongest possible terms. “We strongly condemn the attacks against several journalists as President Zeman’s reelection victory was being announced,” said Pauline Adès-Mével, the head of RSF’s EU-Balkans desk. “It is unacceptable that the supporters of a political leader of this level physically assaulted journalists who were just doing their job, which is to report the news. Such behaviour is unworthy of a democracy and the Zeman camp must publicly condemn this violence.”
Condemning these assaults is an important first step, but it is not enough. International news organizations must join Czech journalists in scrutinizing Zeman, his inner circle, and his political and commercial dealings. It’s time to expose whatever he is working so hard to conceal. Escalating to physical assault is a sign that journalists are closing in on something very newsworthy. Let’s find out what it is.
