Police protecting Prague mayor after 'Russian murder plot'

2020-04-29 16:54:45

The mayor of Prague has confirmed he is under police protection, days after a news report suggested he was the target of an assassination plot. Czech newspaper Respekt alleges a Russian agent carrying the poison ricin arrived in the country three weeks ago. Mayor Zdenek Hrib refused to say why he was under protection but said he had told police he was being followed. The Russian embassy said the report had "absolutely no basis" and that it "categorically rejects" the allegation. And Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, dismissed the news report as fake. Czech law enforcement and politicians have not confirmed there was a plot. The article cites unnamed intelligence sources and has not been verified.