It wasn't to be the only violent pre-election drama. At a May Day rally in Prague of neo-Nazis and counter demonstration by anti-fascists and self-proclaimed anarchists, it was the police who were caught on tape, beating not a skinheaded thug or camouflage-clad teen, but a diminutive middle-aged woman who happened to be the head of the government's human rights section.

Kateřina Jacques is also the Green Party's (ZS) No. 2 candidate on the Prague electoral list. Jiří Paroubek, whose Social Democrats (ČSSD) look set to place second in the June parliamentary elections, was quick to denounce the police officer -- as were nearly all other politicians; the Greens look set to enter the Parliament and may well act as kingmaker in a new coalition government. Dolejš is also his party's No. 2 on the Prague rolls, but few rallied to his aid. The quality of the images, of course, was not the reason.

Photojournalist Michal "Wolf" Vlk of the Internet publication Britské listy was among those who captured the police "intervention" in crystal clear images -- and was detained, he says, interrogated and threatened against publishing his work ("how would you like us to give out your address?"). Hardly the finest example of PR.

Jacques had wanted to show her two children "the vile Nazis" and teach them a lesson in tolerance; they ended up learning a lesson in the potential abuse of power, even in a democracy. The Czech police have often been accused of siding with far-right extremist groups and other advocates of "white power" and failing to monitor or report illegal gatherings propagating racial hatred. The men in blue, like the extremists, it is said, care little for Greens, New Age travelers, the radical left, the Roma (Gypsy) minority, immigrants and techno-music fans of any persuasion.

While charged with protecting the right to free speech and assembly, the police do appear far too keen to shelter the skinheads' "peaceable" marches through the capital; as long as no one gives an overt "sieg heil," the neo-Nazis are demonstrating within the law.

But two prominent politicians attacked within 10 days is a strange concurrence of circumstance. So -- qui bono? Again came the theories. Images of a severely bruised Dolejš helped rally the faithful, and sympathy for the Communists increased. Communist grandmas almost crushed Dolejš to death with love and support. The Greens could likewise benefit from the sympathy vote.

Politicians were compelled to condemn the violence, including Christian Democrat (KDU-ČSL) chairman Miroslav Kalousek, who makes much of his zero-tolerance approach to the Communists. The center-right Civic Democrats (ODS) failed to do so, but didn't forget to call for the resignation of former priest and current Interior Minister František Bublan (ČSSD).

In short, politics as usual.

Irena Ryšánková is a parliamentary analyst for public broadcaster Česká televize