Court finds Czech ‘femme fatale’ guilty in spy scandal

PRAGUE: A Czech court on Wednesday found the former mistress of the country’s ex-prime minister guilty of illegally deploying military intelligence officers to spy on his then-wife, in a scandal that saw Petr Necas resign in 2013.

The Prague tribunal handed a two-year suspended jail term to Jana Nagyova-Necasova, dubbed the “femme fatale” of Necas, whose cabinet was forced out over a string of corruption scandals.

Nagyova, Necas’s chief of staff and then-mistress, was found to have deployed intelligence officers for her personal use in 2012 to spy on Radka in an attempt to speed up the latter’s impending divorce.

Weeks after the divorce came through, the former premier married Nagyoya at a castle near Prague.

Judge Pavla Hajkova said Nagyova’s guilt had been “clearly established,” her motive the “profound hatred” she felt for her love rival.

The judge said Nagyova had abused the power that came with being chief of staff to a “submissive” Necas.

The verdict came after Nagyova had twice been acquitted by the same court, judgments which the Prague municipal court then annulled.

Necas, 53, divorced Radka Necasova, his wife of more than 25 years, with whom he had two sons and two daughters, in September 2013.

Nagyova was not in court for her sentencing, and her lawyer Eduard Bruna said she would likely appeal.

Three intelligence officials were meanwhile handed suspended terms of 18 to 20 months.

The scandal led to a snap election which saw Necas’s centre-right party suffer a humiliating defeat.