Head of Personal Data Protection Office Axed for Shady Activities

Head of Personal Data Protection Office Axed for Shady Activities

Bratislava, April 29 (TASR) – Sona Potheova’s tenure at the helm of the Office for Protection of Personal Data (UOOU) has come to the end at the hands of legislators who voted for her ouster on Wednesday.

Parliament thus approved the motion submitted by the Government.

Justice Minister Maria Kolikova (For the People) emphasised that the freedom of press and journalistic sources must be protected. UOOU under Potheova demanded the Czech Centre for Investigative Journalism had to expose the source from which they obtained scandalous recordings of former prosecutor-general Dobroslav Trnka on pain of a €10-million fine.

Parliamentary Vice-chair Gabor Grendel (OLaNO) added that new UOOU leadership should carry out a comprehensive audit into Potheova’s past activities, as her Threema chat conversations with Marian K., a controversial entrepreneur charged with ordering the murder of a journalist, wasn’t Potheova’s only misstep. Grendel pointed out that Potheova was also involved in the case of the Clear Day resocialisation centre.

According to the Government, Potheova’s past activities were informed by outside influence, quite likely in favour of Marian K.