A convicted criminal, Toma š Jiř ikovsky, is the mastermind behind the dark web platform Sheep Marketplace, which is involved in illegal activities such as drug trafficking. In 2017, he was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment by the court for corruption, drug trafficking and weapons violations. After his release in 2021, he has been trying to recover the 1,500 Bitcoins that were confiscated by law enforcement when he was arrested.
Course of events
In March this year, the lawyer of Jizhkowski contacted Pavel Blazek, the Czech Minister of Justice, and proposed to donate one-third of the Bitcoin to the Ministry of Justice. Blazek accepted the proposal without in-depth investigation. On May 28th, the Department of Justice announced that it had raised approximately 45 million US dollars through the auction of nearly 500 bitcoins. These funds were originally planned to be used for important projects such as the digital reform of the judicial system. But then the media disclosed that these cryptocurrencies originated from Gizhikovsky, which sparked widespread condemnation. Brazzak initially denied any wrongdoing, saying that he “was not capable of investigating the matter and was no longer interested in the case many years later”, but eventually resigned on May 30.
Reasons for a vote of no confidence
The Czech opposition party ANO believes that the government has failed to conduct a proper review of the funds and demands a vote of no confidence against the government. They believe that accepting this donation means that the government has failed to comply with the basic requirements that entities subject to the European MiCA regulations or the Anti-Money Laundering Law must comply with, and has ignored preventive measures such as identifying donors and their motives, determining the source of funds, and assessing potential criminal risks.
Impact of the event
Politically: This incident occurred a few months before the Czech Republic’s October elections. Currently, the support rate of the ruling coalition lags behind that of the opposition party. Although the vote of no confidence may not succeed as the government holds a majority in the parliament, it may weaken the chances of the ruling coalition in the election. Prime Minister Petr Fiala is also facing considerable censorship pressure, and there are speculations that he may be involved in the scandal.
In terms of society: This scandal has raised public doubts about the government’s financial transparency and due diligence, damaging the government’s image and credibility.
In terms of law: The police have officially launched a criminal investigation into the source of these bitcoins to determine if there are any other illegal or criminal activities.
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