Czech Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek has said he will resign after multiple reports of his ministry accepting CZK1bn (€40mn) in bitcoin from a sentenced drug dealer, Tomáš Jiřikovský, who donated the bitcoins to the ministry after his release from prison in 2021.

“After an agreement with Prime Minister Petr Fiala, I have decided to resign as Minister of Justice. I am not aware of committing any illegal deeds. However, I do not want to harm the reputation of the government or the ruling coalition,” Blažek wrote on his X social media profile on May 30.

Jiříkovský donated 30% of bitcoins from his wallet, which was returned to him following the end of his prison sentence, and the donation is under investigation by Czech police units combating organised crime, according to Czech Television (CT) and other media.

Jiříkovský was jailed in 2017 for online drug dealing, possession of illegal arms and embezzlement. Blažek’s ministry has already sold about half of the bitcoins, and the police is working to prevent further transactions with the bitcoins, which are suspected of deriving from money laundering activities, online news outlet Seznam Zprávy reported on May 30.

Blažek’s resignation comes just four months before the October elections, which are widely expected to be won by billionaire ex-prime minister Andrej Babiš’ opposition ANO party. ANO regularly polls above 30% and has a more than 10% lead ahead of the Fiala-led SPOLU joint list, which is struggling to secure even 20% support.

The scandal could reduce the support for ruling coalition parties from Fiala’s cabinet, which is already one of the least popular cabinets on record. Meanwhile, several far-right and anti-EU parties are polling above or around the 5% parliamentary threshold, including the stalwart far-right SPD, anti-green Motorists and red-brown STAČILO! (It’s been enough!) list.

As bne IntelliNews covered in December, Fiala's cabinet is under criticism from Transparency International and other NGOs for giving up on its anti-corruption drive, which brought it to power in 2021 following mass demonstrations against the previous cabinet led by Babiš, backed by his nationalist pro-Kremlin ally, ex-president Miloš Zeman.  

Despite the scandal, which left even seasoned local political analysts in disbelief, Blažek’s resignation is surprising, given the firm backing the scandal-hit politician enjoyed from his ODS party colleague, Fiala, which enabled him to weather allegations of meddling in a court case involving ODS politicians, as well as an off-the-record meeting with a Kremlin-linked lobbyist.

Blažek is seen as instrumental having secured party support for Fiala when he first became chairman of the neoliberal ODS in 2014, a time when ODS was facing an existential crisis after its cabinet, led by Petr Nečas, collapsed in 2013 amid corruption allegations. Fiala also praised Blažek’s work at the ministry when commenting on the resignation.

“Incidentally, he [Blažek] decided to resign on the day when the Chamber of Deputies passed the amendment of the criminal law, praised by professionals as wider public,” Fiala was quoted as saying by CT, adding that Blažek has accomplished the “modernisation of Czech justice”.