21 Jan 2020

Convicted drug smuggler Karel Sroubek refused parole again

From Checkpoint, 5:49 pm on 21 January 2020

Convicted drug smuggler Karel Sroubek has been refused early release from prison for the fourth time.

The Czech kick-boxer - also known as Jan Antolik - is four years into a six-year jail sentence for importing five kilograms of ecstasy into the country.

He jumped to headlines in 2018 when Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway backtracked on his controversial decision to grant him residency.

RNZ court reporter Anneke Smith was at Sroubek's parole hearing at Wiri prison.

She joins Lisa Owen with the details.