Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala built his political brand on being the ethical alternative to his populist rival, Andrej Babiš. His supporters in Prague call him “Mr. Clean”—the pro-EU, pro-NATO leader who would restore moral authority to Czech politics after years of scandal. But he just destroyed that carefully crafted image with his tepid response to a drug money scandal.
When Your Justice Minister Takes Drug Money
The scandal reads like a dark comedy of political incompetence. Justice Minister Pavel Blažek was forced to resign after revelations that his ministry had accepted and sold 480 Bitcoin worth $45 million from Tomáš Jiříkovský—a name that should have set off every alarm bell in the Justice Ministry.
Jiříkovský wasn’t just any donor—he was the mastermind behind Sheep Marketplace and Nucleus, notorious cryptocurrency platforms where users bought illegal drugs, weapons, and other contraband. The platforms were shut down in 2016, and Jiříkovský was imprisoned for drug trafficking and weapons possession. Following his release, he apparently decided to donate his fortune to the very ministry responsible for locking him up.
The sheer audacity is breathtaking. In March 2025, Jiříkovský’s lawyer approached Blažek and offered one-third of the criminal’s Bitcoin stash as a “donation” to help digitize the justice system and combat drug use in prisons. The irony was apparently lost on everyone involved, and nobody knows where the rest of the money went.
Fiala’s Loyalty Problem
What makes this scandal particularly damaging for Fiala isn’t just the spectacular failure of due diligence—it’s how he responded when the story broke. Rather than immediately distancing himself, Fiala rushed to defend Blažek, insisting his justice minister “acted in good faith” and calling his eventual resignation a “responsible step.”
This wasn’t Fiala’s first time defending the indefensible regarding Blažek. Last year, coalition partners called for Blažek’s dismissal after he met with Russian agent of influence Martin Nejedlý, yet Fiala stood by him.
The situation is further complicated by revelations involving Fiala’s own circle. As one senior retired DEA special agent bluntly put it, “These darknet marketplaces have long been hubs for laundering money tied to Russian organized crime and intelligence services. Anyone connected with these funds should be immediately arrested, and their assets frozen without hesitation.”
Bad Political Timing
The timing couldn’t be worse for Fiala. With parliamentary elections scheduled for October, his center-right coalition is already trailing former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s populist ANO party by a comfortable 12 points. Fiala’s government has suffered some of the lowest approval ratings in a decade, largely because of economic pressures and a series of smaller scandals.
Now, Babiš—whom Fiala has spent years attacking for his own ethical lapses—has been handed the perfect ammunition. The government of the man who positioned himself as the ethical alternative has just been caught accepting millions from dark web drug dealers. The attack ads practically write themselves.
How Did This Happen?
The most damning aspect isn’t the donation itself—it’s the complete breakdown of basic governmental safeguards. How does a Justice Ministry staffed with prosecutors and investigators accept $45 million without conducting elementary background checks?
Intriguingly, Fiala established the office of National Security Advisor to get better security advice. He appointed self-styled hawk Tomas Pojar to that position, who in turn hired the former director of military intelligence, Jan Beroun, as his staffer. Was the failure of his national security team incompetence, or were they part of the attempted cover-up?
Their past associations cast further shadows over this scandal. Pojar was previously exposed for collaborating with Chinese intelligence officials during a trip to Beijing. Beroun was highly decorated by former President Miloš Zeman, a known ally of Vladimir Putin. Both are political allies of Blazek.
The connecting threads of this web seem to be Martin Nejedlý, a self-admitted agent of influence for Vladimir Putin. Even Tomáš Jiříkovský’s attorney, who negotiated the deal with Blazek, is an associate of Mr. Nejedly. Nejedly’s relationships with Czech political elites raise profound questions about the integrity of the Czech government’s stance on Russia. Mr. Nejedly has many friends in the Fiala cabinet.
Fiala now admits the state may have been “abused to launder criminal proceeds” and promises to convene the National Security Council to investigate. But the activities of the National Security Council are coordinated by Pojar, Blazek’s ally.
What’s Next?
With elections just months away, this scandal may have sealed Fiala’s fate. Czech voters, already frustrated by economic hardship and governmental incompetence, now have a vivid example of leadership failure: a justice minister who let his government launder drug money.
Babiš, despite his own troubles, now has a compelling narrative: the establishment lectures on ethics while covertly accepting money from criminals. It’s a narrative that resonates easily and may propel him back to power.
Ultimately, the dark web donation scandal will likely be remembered as the moment Fiala’s “Mr. Clean” image died—not through his opponents’ efforts but through his own profound failure to meet the ethical standards he set for others. In politics, there’s nothing more dangerous than hypocrisy. And this hypocrisy raises questions about Fiala’s Russian associations. If Mr. Clean isn’t so clean, maybe he isn’t so anti-Putin either.