News

This Monday, June 23rd, marks 30 years that twenty Czechs and Slovaks were released by UNITA rebels in Angola, returning home after some 15 months in captivity. Those abducted in 1984 had to complete a march of more than 1,300 kilometers while in captivity. One of the hostages did not survive. Lubomír Sazeček, one of those held prisoner, spoke to the Czech News Agency on the occasion of the anniversary, saying he never gave up on Africa, but still held the rebels, who assumed power, responsible. In all, 66 Czechoslovak men, women and children were held hostage, but the 20 were the last released. The Czechs and Slovaks were in Angola in the 1980's to help resurrect and run the Angola Cellulose and Paper Company in the area of Alto Catumbela.

Hundreds of people, including members of the military and the Czech president, attended a ceremony on Sunday in Ležáky in the Chrudim area, to honour the memory of 52 people murdered there by the Nazis in 1942. The town was razed to the ground, following Lidice, as reprisal for the assassination of the 'Butcher of Prague’, Nazi governor Reinhard Heydrich. All of the adults were executed and 11 children sent to the Chełmno extermination camp where they were gassed. In a speech on Sunday to mark the 72 anniversary, the president expressed deep gratitude that Czech resistance fighters had fought for freedom with the utmost courage and sacrifice. Among those who attended the ceremony were two sisters, Jarmila and Marie Šťulíková, who are the sole survivors of the Ležáky massacre. After the war, the village of Ležáky was rebuilt with a memorial on the site of the original buildings which had been destroyed.

The Chamber of Deputies on Friday passed legislation which will make it more difficult to tow vehicles in No Parking zones or areas where motorists parked without a permit or paying. Under the amendment to the traffic law, police will first to have to apply a wheel clamp, commonly known as a Denver or parking boot, giving car owners 24 hours to respond. Vehicles will only be towed after that if owners failed to contact the police. The changes will effectively prevent MPs and senators from ever having their cars towed: under the law, police are not allowed to use parking boots on lawmakers’ vehicles. The bill will still have to be approved by the Senate.

An arbitration court had not yet reached a final decision in the Blanka Tunnel case, in which the construction firm Metrostav and the City of Prague are at odds. The court did approve a list of items to be completed at the cost of 40 million crowns, Deputy Mayor Jiří Nouza told the Czech News Agency. An earlier court decision stated that Prague had to pay a remaining 4 billion crowns, while Metrostav had to complete the tunnel by September. No opening date for the tunnel has yet been set and will hinge on the installation of technology for the running of the entire complex.