Právo demands apology from Paroubek for slur on finances

The newspaper Právo has demanded an apology from the head of the opposition Social Democrats, Jiří Paroubek, who, it says raised false alarm about the state of the daily’s finances. The firm which owns Právo - Borgis - said that comments Mr Paroubek made about the poor financial state of the paper in an open letter to its editor-in-chief were untruthful and damaged the newspaper’s reputation. Právo responded to Mr Paroubek’s claims by saying that 2008 had been the best year, in financial terms, in the newspaper’s history. The demand for an apology follows claims made by Právo’s editor-in-chief, Zdeněk Porybný, on Wednesday that he was being pressurised by Mr Paroubek to portray the Social Democrats in a favourable light. The left-leaning Právo grew out of the former communist newspaper Rudé Právo.

Author: Rosie Johnston