Funeral service tribute paid to Otakar Motejl

Top politicians and public figures paid their final respects on Monday to the first Czech ombudsman, former justice minister and president of the Supreme Court, Otakar Motejl, who died at the age of 77 last week. Czech president Václav Klaus and his Slovak counterpart, Ivan Gašparovic, were amongst those who attended the funeral service at a Prague theatre where Mr. Motejl liked to go. A black flag flew at the lower house of parliament in tribute. Mr. Motejl began his legal career in the mid 1950’s going on to represent victims of show trials and later dissidents against the hard line Communist regime. As ombudsman, he was an outspoken defender of human rights, especially those of minorities, such as the Roma.