• PM calls on police chief to consider future after man escapes from police custody
    06/21/2005

    Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek has called on police president Jiri Kolar to consider resigning, after a man escaped from police custody during a search of his house last weekend. Mr Paroubek also said the police officers who allowed businessman Radovan Krejcir to escape should be punished. On Monday the interior minister, Frantisek Bublan, said there was some evidence that Mr Krejcir had fled the Czech Republic. The fugitive faces charges of fraud and tax evasion amounting to almost three billion Czech crowns (around 120 million US dollars). He is also suspected of planning a murder. Both Czech and international warrants for his arrest have been issued.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Communists pledge support for referendum on EU constitution
    06/21/2005

    Prime Minister Paroubek has secured the support of the Communist Party for his plans to hold a referendum on the European Union constitution next June. He needs their support to push a bill on the referendum through parliament. In meeting the party's leader Miroslav Grebenicek the prime minister confirmed his policy of talking to all opposition parties, including the Communists.

    The prime minister has just set off on a week-long trip to Japan and China.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Email scam victim gets prison term for shooting Nigerian Embassy official
    06/21/2005

    A pensioner who killed an official at the Nigerian Embassy in Prague two years ago has received an eight-year prison sentence. Jiri Pasovsky lost 15 million Czech crowns (over 600,000 US dollars) in a Nigerian email investment scam. In an effort to retrieve his money the retired doctor set up a meeting at the embassy, during which he pulled out a pistol and shot the consul dead. Mr Pasovsky, who says he has no recollection of the incident, has appealed the verdict.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Tram driver charged with attempted murder of passenger
    06/21/2005

    A Prague tram driver has been charged with attempted murder, after setting a homeless man on fire in a night tram, Mlada fronta Dnes reported on Tuesday. Another man has also been charged in connection with the incident. The two are suspected of similar attacks on night trams, setting fire to sleeping passengers' hair, clothing and belongings, the paper said.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Harry Potter filming under threat as actor's father's worries about Prague sex industry
    06/21/2005

    Plans to film "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" in Prague may be abandoned; the father of the boy who plays the main role, Daniel Radcliffe, said he did not want him to be exposed to the Czech capital's wild night life and sex industry, according to reports in the Czech press on Tuesday. Prague has gained a reputation as a centre for cheap prostitution in the United Kingdom in recent years.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech film being shown at Glastonbury festival on eve of UK release
    06/21/2005

    The Czech film Cesky Sen (Czech Dream) is to be shown at the famous Glastonbury music and arts festival in England on Thursday night, the eve of its official release in the UK. The makers attracted hundreds of shoppers to the opening of a non-existent hypermarket and captured their reaction in a film which is seen as a comment on consumerism in today's Czech Republic.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Footballer Repka stays with West Ham after promotion to Premier League
    06/21/2005

    Former Czech football international Tomas Repka has signed a new two-year contract with English club West Ham United, who he recently helped win promotion to the Premier League. Repka, who is 31 and has a poor disciplinary record, joined West Ham from Italy's Fiorentina in 2001 for nine million US dollars.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Civic Democrats to blame if Czechs cannot vote on EU constitution, says Paroubek
    06/20/2005

    The Czech prime minister, Jiri Paroubek, says if a bill allowing a referendum on the European Union constitution does not receive the necessary two-thirds majority in parliament the Civic Democrats will bear responsibility for denying Czechs the right to vote on the issue. The prime minister made the comments in an interview for the Czech BBC. Mr Paroubek says the constitution is still viable, and a referendum should take place at the same time as general elections next June. For their part the Civic Democrats say the document is dead.

    The prime minister is holding talks on the issue with the Communist Party; they say they are in favour of a referendum, but insist that money earmarked for a campaign calling for a yes vote should also be shared with opposition groups.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Fugitive business likely to have fled country, says interior minister
    06/20/2005

    The interior minister, Frantisek Bublan, says there is evidence that fugitive businessman Radovan Krejcir has evaded a police search and fled the Czech Republic. Mr Krejcir managed to escape from custody soon after he was arrested; he gave the police the slip after asking to use the bathroom during a search of his home near Prague at the weekend. He faces charges of tax evasion and fraud amounting to almost 3 billion Czech crowns (around 120 million US dollars); he is also suspected of planning a murder. Mr Krejcir, who is 36, is reported to be one of the richest people in the Czech Republic.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech Republic opens six temporary consular offices for summer months
    06/20/2005

    The Czech Republic is opening six temporary consular offices to serve the country's citizens during the summer months. They are in Split and Riejka in Croatia, Barcelona, Venice, Marseille and Burgas, Bulgaria.

    Meanwhile, Czech Radio has begun its annual summer broadcasting in Croatia, which attracts hundreds of thousands of Czech tourists every year. The daily 15-minute Czech-language broadcasts on Radio Split include news, weather and holiday tips.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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