Police accuse man who attacked Klaus of breach of peace

The man, who spent the night in a detention cell, is now being interrogated again, Zatloukalova said.

The attack, which provoked a stormy debate about the suspected bad work of Klaus´s police bodyguards, has thus been qualified as an offence by the investigators. The perpetrator will be probably released free, though the investigation will continue.

He faces up to two-years in prison, if convicted.

At a bridge opening ceremony in Chrastava, north Bohemia, on Friday, the assailant emerged from the crowd, got close to Klaus and repeatedly shot at him from a plastic gun used in airsoft game. Klaus suffered a light arm injury for which he received medical treatment in a Prague hospital later on Friday.

Klaus´s protective guards reacted too slowly and let the man leave the place of the incident. The man even gave interviews to the media before being detained by the police.

He said Czech politicians ignore people´s complaints and this was the only chance for him to show his dissatisfaction.

The attack has been investigated by the police in the Liberec region, where Chrastava is situated.

The conduct of Klaus´s guards and other policemen has been investigated by the General Inspection of Security Forces (GIBS) and separately also checked by a special team established by the police president.

"From the beginning I´ve viewed the facts linked to the protective guards´ conduct as a professional failure. Measures must be immediately taken to prevent similar failures," Police President Martin Cervicek told CTK today.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz