News

Acclaimed Czech photographer Oldřich Škácha has died at the age of 72 after suffering from a long illness. Škácha, who worked in the past for numerous Czech magazines and Prague's Barrandov studios, was a member of the dissident movement in the 1970s and a signatory of Charter 77. He was also a long-time photographer of Václav Havel. Mr Škácha was the author of numerous important photographs including that of demonstrators carrying a blood-stained Czech flag after the Soviet-led invasion in 1968 or of Václav Havel writing his famous letter to Communist leader Gustav Husák.

In related news, Mr Veleba indicated that - going forward - his party will drop the word 'Zemanites' from its name, becoming known only as Citizens' Rights. The party was originally largely founded to help Miloš Zeman re-enter the political arena, which proved successful. But now, the new chairman said, the party needed to 'emancipate itself' and to work on its own image. The president will stay on as honorary chairman. Mr Veleba confirmed the party was not running in the upcoming European elections but would focus instead on communal elections in the Czech Republic this autumn.

Brno’s Masaryk University has offered a position to Russian professor Andrej Zubov, who was sacked from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations after criticizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Prof. Zubov was dismissed from the institute where he’d worked since 2001 after comparing Moscow's actions in Ukraine with Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938. The rector of Brno University said prof. Zubov had expressed appreciation of the offer and promised to visit the school in the near future to discuss the possibilities.

The Constitutional Court has issued a precedent ruling on a case in which an aggressive driver killed a pedestrian and seriously injured another after overtaking a standing vehicle at a zebra crossing and failing to give right of way himself. According to the news site aktualne.cz the court has urged lower instance courts to issue tougher verdicts on road pirates who do not respect pedestrians’ right of way at zebra crossings saying the offense merits between 2 and 8 years in prison in the event of grievous bodily harm or death. This type of offense is common in the Czech Republic and a frequent cause of accidents involving pedestrians.