In the Czech press: Sources: Social Democrats spy on party members - Party denies it; deputies...

The Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) keeps secret files on its own members, Hospodářské noviny wrote on Tuesday. "They keep files, monitor telephone calls, and try to stay ready," an unnamed ČSSD deputy told the newspaper. Two other deputies corroborated his statements. According to Petr Wolf, the renegade deputy who left the party last week because he didn't like ČSSD Party Chief Jiří Paroubek's strong-arm tactics, Paroubek tried to blackmail him into voting for opposition candidate Jan Švejnar in the February presidential elections, “I heard they were keeping a file on me, but I can't prove it," he said. Shortly after Wolf announced his departure from ČSSD, compromising material about a firm which he was involved in appeared in the daily Mladá fronta Dnes, which later admitted that it had been tipped off by ČSSD headquarters.... [read full story]