Czech president calls plastic gun attack a “political act”

President Václav Klaus has said in an interview that he considers Friday’s attack against him a “political act” – one that reflected the extremely poor state of Czech society. In an interview for the daily Mladá fronta Dnes on Monday, Mr Klaus said the attack involving a man firing pellets at him from a plastic gun, was not a “regrettable incident” (as described by the prime minister) but the first such attack on a Czech president in history. Rather than a failure of his security detail, the shooting highlighted much deeper issues within society, the president said.

Last Friday an assailant shot pellets at the president seven times during an official visit in Chrastava: video footage, aired around the world, showed the president’s security team oblivious to any danger, failing to react. The assailant successfully departed the scene and was even able to grant interviews to two TV stations before being arrested. The head of the president’s security team has stepped down over the incident.

Author: Jan Velinger