More and more influential players are resorting to meetings abroad or in secluded areas
Prague, July 16 (ČTK) — Czech politicians, lobbyists and influential businessmen are seeking new places safe from bugging for their meetings in reaction to extensive wiretapping not only in offices but also in luxurious hotels and restaurants where they used to meet in the past, Lidové noviny (LN) writes today.
It names a recent case in which a bugging device was found in the office of a senior official of the Czech Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ) as well as the wiretapping scandal in neighboring Poland that almost led to the fall of the government. “A politically incorrect” conversation between Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and former Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski was wiretapped in a restaurant in Warsaw and then released to the public.
Recently, controversial Czech lobbyist Ivo Rittig, who faces charges in a few cases, paid dearly in more ways than one for visiting the five-star Ventana hotel in downtown Prague, where special bugging devices had been installed.
Powerful Czechs are now choosing places to meet more carefully, and they check them thoroughly, LN writes, referring to an anonymous poll among people from political and business circles and their knowledge of activities behind the scenes.
Some people more and more often hold their crucial meetings in private restaurants that certain banks have established on their premises. They can also talk without fear of being bugged aboard planes or in exclusive sport resorts, such as golf courses or tennis courts.