The police dismissed the criminal complaint against the former director of NG Fajt

Prague - The police shelved two criminal complaints filed against the former director of the National Gallery in Prague (NGP) Jiří Fajt by former Minister of Culture Antonín Staněk (ČSSD). The Ministry of Culture confirmed this to ČTK today. Staněk filed the criminal complaints after Fajt was dismissed from the head of the NGP a year ago. He justified his action by alleging economic misconduct. Fajt has repeatedly rejected the accusations.

"We received the information that the criminal complaints against Mr. Fajt have been shelved. The filing of a criminal complaint by the previous minister Staněk was, like in the case of the Museum of Art in Olomouc, apparently inadequate. I regret how everything unfolded," stated Staněk's successor Lubomír Zaorálek (ČSSD) to ČTK today.

said on "The official reasons given by Minister Staněk for my immediate dismissal from the position of General Director of NGP were purposeful, fabricated, and fundamentally untrue, and I am glad that the Czech Police came to the same conclusion after a thorough investigation," Fajt told ČTK.

"The last year was not exactly one of the happiest periods of my life. The same certainly applies to the National Gallery. My dismissal suddenly halted the diligent work on the 'new National Gallery' project, which my colleagues and I, with the support of many external partners and supporters, tried to revive and bring among successful European art museums after years of stagnation and provincialism," stated the former director. Following his dismissal, he received support from fifty directors from museums around the world, as well as a ten-thousand-signature petition in the Czech Republic calling for Staněk's departure.

Staněk abruptly dismissed Fajt from his position last April, also removing Michal Soukup from the position of director of the Museum of Art in Olomouc. This move led to protests and sparked discussions about Staněk's departure from office. The search for a new minister resulted in lengthy negotiations at the level of the government and the Social Democracy party. Staněk submitted his resignation at the end of May, which President Miloš Zeman accepted only at the end of July.

Before his departure, Staněk also announced competitions for both positions along with other controversial decisions he made. Zaorálek canceled both. Staněk also filed a criminal complaint against Soukup and his predecessor Pavel Zatloukal. The police shelved those complaints as well back in November.

Regarding Fajt and Soukup, Staněk criticized alleged significant misconduct in the economic activities of the institutions they managed. Specifically, for Fajt, he pointed to a remuneration contract exceeding one million crowns, which the then-director paid himself for curatorial work on exhibitions and displays. He dismissed the director of NGP, Fajt, citing ongoing audits at the gallery, which, however, were still in progress at the time he announced Fajt's termination.

According to a previous statement by Fajt's lawyer František Vyskočil, all the reasons for the dismissal either rely on falsehoods or "distort the true factual basis and draw unwarranted value judgments from it." "As a result of such actions, there has been a gross infringement on the honor of the client (Fajt), a discrediting of his name and professional reputation," Vyskočil stated in a letter he sent to the ministry following Fajt's dismissal, demanding an apology.