Czech Investigators reported a new development in one of the country’s most significant corruption allegations, which has been the subject of a stop and ago investigation since 2003. In 2002, the Czech government signed a deal for the purchase of 24 Gripen jet fighter aircraft from the then consortium of BAE Systems and Saab. After failing to receive the necessary parliamentary support, the deal morphed into the lease of 10 Gripens, which expires in 2015. The widespread corruption allegations around the deal, which sparked the long-running investigation by Czech authorities, concerned the Austrian Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly allegedly acting as a middleman for the BAES and channelling bribes to Eastern European officials, including Czech officials, to secure the Gripen deals. The Czech investigation was reported to have stalled due to lack of cooperation of foreign investigators, but in June 2011 British Prime Minister David Cameron promised renewed cooperation and on August 8, 2011, such information reportedly materialised in the form of fresh material from the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

With acknowledgement to CzechPosition.com.

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We need reciprocation regarding the RSA Gripen (and Hawk) deal.

The evidence is there, only the will to use is needed.

The same applies to the Thyssen and Ferrostaal legs.

The same applied to the Thales leg back in the 2000 to 2003 era, but Thabo Mbeki and Jacques Chirac ensured that the evidence trail was cleaned up - right from under the noses of Magistrate Edith Boizette and Advocate Gerda Ferreira.