Ivo Svoboda, Czech politician, Died at 68

Ivo Svoboda was born on April 6, 1948, and died on February 23, 2017.
He was a Czech politician and economist.
He served as 3rd Finance Minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 1999 in government of Prime Minister Miloš Zeman.
He began his political career as a Deputy in the Czech National Council (from 1990 to 1992).
As of 1997, he was the Deputy Chairman of the Board of the company Liberta in Mělník.
Svoboda served as the Deputy Chairman of the Czech Social Democratic Party, from 1997 to 1999.
Svoboda became the Minister of Finance in July 1998 as his party won the national election, following a campaign promising voters a corruption-free government.
Sometime in July 1999, police announced their intention to start prosecution proceedings on criminal charges against Svoboda while he was still in the Cabinet.
Svoboda’s term as Minister of Finance came to an end less than a week later, as he was sacked by President Václav Havel.
He was sentenced to 5 years in prison in 2005 due to his involvement in tunneling of the Liberta company, becoming the first government minister following the Velvet Revolution to receive such a sentence.
Svoboda left prison in October 2008, after having served three years of his sentence.
Ivo Svoboda passed away at 68 years old.