On Facebook, you objected to the statement of the honorary chairman of TOP 09, Karel Schwarzenberg, who called the alleged sexual assaults on Dominic Feri’s women normal, and Senator Tomas Czernin, who sees the political struggle against the girls’ testimony against Ferim. You said you would leave TOP 09 if both men did not apologize by the end of the week.
I understand that when you know a person someone else accuses of something, you put a personal level into it because you trust him. It’s alright. But to downplay such a serious accusation that such behavior is normal or that the Pirates are behind the accusation seems to me outrageous. This could only be said when there was a cleansing judgment. It personally bothers me to relativize such things.
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In your opinion, the chairwoman of TOP 09 Markéta Pekarová Adamová behaved correctly? She said the presumption of innocence was true and that she had not noticed inappropriate behavior in Feri. It seems to me folk-lean and unsalted.
It’s a shock to her too. I think Markéta’s statement is OK. What really upset me personally was what Schwarzenberg said. I’m not alone in joining the party for him. The second thing is that he probably did essentially the same thing 70 years ago as Feri is accused of. But today there is no place for it. And Senator Czernin’s statement? Throw the situation at the election and the Pirates? When it is four months before the elections and in the Czech Republic it is almost always half a year before the elections, whatever? I think it’s stupid. Precisely because it is before the elections, we should not make such fundamental mistakes in crisis communication. These people may think what they want, but they speak for the whole party, for its constituents. What they showed is not possible. It’s complete amateurism.
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You want to leave the party if Schwarzenberg and Czernin don’t apologize by the end of the week. Do you think that you will not be alone? What about voters?
I don’t think it will affect the voters, I will also vote for the Coalition TOGETHER. My point is that at least about 350 girls aged 12 to 18 study at least in the schools I run in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. And I am not able to associate with such statements. Neither professionally nor ethically. If they consolidate in the party, speak with one voice and do not reflect their own experience from summer camps or God knows fifty years ago, then that may be fine. I simply consider this a sensitive matter, especially on our side, where people wrapped themselves in Tibetan flags.
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Do you personally know Feri?
I saw him about four years ago. I used to be active in the party, but not in recent years, because I have a lot of work to do. I don’t want to judge whether he’s guilty or not. Everyone who goes into politics must accept that something like this can happen to him. Sometimes he may face an imaginary accusation that will destroy his reputation and political career, sometimes it may be true. I don’t want to evaluate that. We’ve seen each other about six times seven times in our lives. I never noticed any of what was described in his behavior. But I don’t want to evaluate it.
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You run an agency that provides education around the world. You also run schools in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. How do you perceive the described situation of the students who encountered the alleged harassment by Feri? Should they deal with it with the school?
I know the foreign level here in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where we run four private schools. The truth is that in Western Europe and the United States, a lot of time and resources are devoted to preventing such matters. We in the Czech Republic have always thought – even those of us who studied in the USA, or the parents who sent the children there – that their attitudes are sometimes terribly exaggerated. Hypersensitivity can bother people. On the other hand, extreme situations and signs of harassment can be caught at school.
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In the Czech Republic, it is the case that it is basically not being solved. Because having one or two psychologists at school is not the answer. The solution is to change social perception of what is and what is wrong. Take a look at those comments. Someone says, “It happened four years ago. So why did she go home with him? ”
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I don’t want to evaluate the situation, because until the police investigate it, we don’t know where the truth is. But when there is a suspicion of such a sensitive matter, it is not possible for a high-ranking politician of a democratic liberal party that proclaims values, morality and ten to downplay it. That’s over the edge.
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