Vladimír Železný (born 3 March 1945) is a Czech businessman and politician. He was the first

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of TV NOVA, a popular Czech television station and was a

member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

between 2004 and 2009. As a media mogul with political influence, he has been compared to

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

and Silvio Berlusconi.
Der Fernseh-Politiker (The TV-Politician)
(German), Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, 2002-12-18, accessed on 2009-01-22. Archived He was convicted of tax evasion in 2007.

Early life and media career

Born to a Jewish family, Železný made headlines in 1968, at the age of 23, when he broadcast in defiance of orders pictures of Russian tanks driving through Prague during the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. In 1993 he applied with five others for a license to broadcast a private television channel to show classical music, cultural programmes and current affairs. He obtained a €140m investment from the American firm, Central European Media Enterprises (CME) to fund the enterprise. Due to the Czech Media Council's rules against foreign ownership, the license was granted to a company controlled by Železný - CET21 - which, with the legal assistance of

Miroslav Šipovič Miroslav may refer to: * Miroslav (given name), a Slavic masculine given name * ''Young America'' (clipper) or ''Miroslav'', an Austrian clipper ship in the Transatlantic case oil trade * Miroslav (Znojmo District), a town in the Czech Republic ...

signed a licensing agreement with a joint venture partly owned by CME. In February 1994 he launched TV NOVA which became the most popular network, although it was criticised as undermining the cultural tradition of Czechs.Czech Libertas recruit has conviction for evading duty
'' Irish Times'', 2009-01-22 In 1999 CET21 terminated the licensing agreement, effectively seizing control of the station and making CME's investment worthless. Subsequently, some 20 suits started in front of the Czech courts and international tribunals. While the CME (at the time incorporated in Netherlands and controlled by American national Ronald Lauder) started UNCITRAL arbitration proceedings against the Czech Republic (in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

) under the Bilateral investment treaty between the Czech Republic and Netherlands, Ronald Lauder himself started UNCITRAL arbitration proceedings against the Czech Republic (in London) under the Bilateral investment treaty between the Czech Republic and the United States. While the London tribunal dismissed the claim by Lauder, the Stockholm tribunal, effectively dealing with the same issue, found the Czech Republic liable for not protecting the CME's investment in the Czech Republic and awarded CME damages of $270 million, which were eventually paid from taxpayers' money. Under a different arbitration award, Železný was to pay damages of $23 million. CME also eventually regained control of the channel. From November 2013 to March 2014 he was the CEO of TV Barrandov.

Political career

In 2002, Železný was elected to the

Czech Senate The Senate (), literally "Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic", is the upper house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Senate is Wallenstein Palace in Prague. Structure The Senate has 81 members, chosen in s ...

for the Znojmo circuit. Analysts said he selected the seat based on the high ratings of TV Nova and high rates of unemployment and said he was "''widely suspected''" of seeking election only to secure

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians such as president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, s ...

.Constitution Watch - A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR
, ''East European Constitutional Review'' (a joint publication of the New York University School of Law and the Central European University), 2002-12-01, accessed on 2009-01-22Zynischer Populist ohne politische Überzeugung (Cynical populist with no political ideology)
(German),

die tageszeitung ''Die Tageszeitung'' (, “The Daily Newspaper”), is counted as being one of modern Germany's most important newspapers and amongst the top seven. taz is stylized as ''die tageszeitung'' and commonly referred to as ''taz'', is a cooperative-own ...

, 2004-06-14, accessed on 2009-01-22 In 2004 he was elected to the European Parliament. He founded the Independent Democrats (''Nezávislí demokraté'') in 2005 and was elected its chairman. In 2006 he unsuccessfully sought election to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

. In 2008 he told Prague Radio he was a "''fierce

eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...

''" and said the European Union was "''an over-regulated environment which strongly resembles what we know from our communist past''" In 2009 he launched

Libertas.cz Libertas.cz is a eurosceptic party in the Czech Republic that was founded in 2009 by the former media entrepreneur and MEP Vladimír Železný. After some controversies it became an associate of Declan Ganley's pan-European alliance Libertas.eu. ...

Criminal activities

He was suspected of selling property and making a speculative agreement with a Liechtenstein company to avoid paying his debt to CME.CME/Lauder vs. Czech Republic - Case Comment & Introductory Note
''Thomas Wälde'', 2003-06-01, accessed on 2009-01-22 Later he was freed of the charges. In 2001 he was publicly arrested and charged with tax evasion and defrauding creditors in connection with the Nova company. In 2003 the Senate voted to lift his immunity to allow the police to investigate and in 2005 the European Parliament followed suit.Zelezny case highlights imperfections in parliamentary immunity law
Český rozhlas, 2003-01-29, accessed on 2009-01-22The European Parliament has decided to strip Czech MEP Vladimir Zelezny of immunity
, Český rozhlas, 2005-10-13, accessed on 2009-01-22 Later he was freed of the charges. In 2007 he was found guilty of tax evasion in connection to paintings he had imported in 1998, fined €250,000 and given a two-year suspended jail sentence with a two-year probation. The verdict was later upheld by the High Court in Prague.

References

External links

Personal website

Curriculum
by Vladimír Vaďura * European political group at the European Parliament http://indemgroup.org/

Media, articles, case studies

Zelezny says he was offered higher preferences for bribe
praguemonitor.com/ ČTK, 27 Mar 2006
EP-Abgeordneter Vladimír Železný in Prag vor Gericht
tschechien-online.org, 31 Jan 2006

arte-tv.com, 6 Oct 2005
Czech Mate: CME and Vladimir Zelezny
Harvard Business Online, 10 Feb 2004
Mejstřík opět navrhl slyšení o TV Nova, senátoři jej znovu zamítli
(Senator

Martin Mejstřík Martin Mejstřík (born 30 May 1962) is a Czech politician and human rights activist. Biography Mejstřík is notable for his role as a student leader during the Velvet Revolution that led to the ousting of the Communist regime in Czechoslovaki ...

tries again to initiate Senate hearing on TV Nova), cestazmeny.cz (

Cesta změny Path of Change (sometimes translated as Way to Change, in Czech: ''Cesta změny'') was a small liberal party in the Czech Republic. The party was led by Jiří Lobkowicz. It has no members of parliament and no elected councillors in local governm ...

), 23 May 2003
Mejstřík inicioval veřejné slyšení ve věci arbitráže Novy
(Senator

trying to hold public hearing to seek recovery of funds), cestazmeny.cz, 18 Apr 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zelezny, Vladimir Politicians from Samara, Russia 1945 births Czech Jews Living people Independent Democrats (Czech Republic) MEPs MEPs for the Czech Republic 2004–2009 Members of the Senate of the Czech Republic Czech eurosceptics Charles University alumni TV Nova (Czech Republic)