Czechs have been told for the past three weeks that emigration cases were routine at criminal courts prior to 1990 and that judges were assigned them based on regular rotation. Pres. Libor Vávra of the SU Judges Union said that it is very unlikely that a pre-1990 criminal-court judge didn’t try such cases. Yet a review of Josef Baxa’s 3,000 cases at Pilsen District Court in 1984-1989 found only one emigration case, and in this one instance Baxa conveniently let the defendant off with a suspended sentence instead of sending him to prison. Sen. Tomáš Jirsa of ODS told XTV that there is a tacit agreement not to take aim at Baxa because it would cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Constitutional Court. Yet creating what many people will see as a false legend for Baxa is potentially even worse. Not only does it risk undermining trust in the highest court and ultimately the entire judicial system, but it also makes sure the ex-rt plosion will be all that greater if a different truth ever comes out about Josef Baxa.

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