Photo: Roman Vondrouš, ČTK
No sooner was Robert Fremr nominated as one of three new constitutional judges when accusations began to surface about sentences he handed out pre-1989. Now he has made the decision to step down, although he had already been approved by the Senate. But questions remain about what this means for choosing another candidate and the pasts of other key figures in the judiciary.
The vice president of the Prague High Court Robert Fremr announced at a press conference on Monday that he would not be accepting the position of judge at the Constitutional Court.
He has been dogged by criticism since his nomination for the post, first, for sentencing three young men to prison in 1988 in a Communist rigged trial, then for sentencing over 170 people for illegally emigrating during the communist era.
He told reporters on Monday that he was turning down the role due to media pressure, as well as because of his desire not to let the public mistrust that had accompanied his nomination to jeopardise the credibility of the Constitutional Court.
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Author:Anna Fodor, source:Český rozhlas