News

DVD sales in the Czech Republic have reached their highest level since the market release of the format in 1997. Shops and video rental stores recorded a record 3.3 million digital video disks sold in 2008, which marks a 13 percent rise compared to the year 2007. While there was significant increase in the number of DVDs bought in shops, the video rental industry has declined drastically, purchasing 48% less films than the year before.

The Czech National Bank has voiced objections to misleading information published by some foreign media outlets regarding the country’s economic condition. An article published by the British paper the Financial Times on Thursday put the Czech Republic’s national debt at 192 billion US dollars; the Czech central bank points out however that the country only owes 38 billion dollars. Also, the British weekly Economist wrote Saturday that the Czech crown was one of the East European currencies that are currently falling due to a large number of house mortgages taken in Swiss francs. The Czech National Bank says this problem does not in fact exist in the Czech Republic. The Czech National Bank said that such misleading information may put off potential investors, and was particularly harmful in the midst of a financial crisis.

The head of the Senate, Přemysl Sobotka, of the ruling Civic Democrats, said on Tuesday that the upper chamber of the Czech Parliament was likely to approve the Lisbon treaty. Mr Sobotka said a fresh assessment of the reform document by the Czech Constitutional Court would be pointless. The Senate is yet to vote on the Lisbon treaty which was approved by Parliament’s lower chamber earlier this month. The Czech Constitutional Court was asked to review parts of the treaty by some Civic Democratic senators last year; and ruled that it was in line with Czech law. A number of senators for the ruling party would however like to have it reviewed again.

The Czech justice minister, Jiří Pospíšil, fired the head of a regional prosecution authority on Tuesday after he refused to reinstate a subordinate he had sacked for criticizing the way the institution worked. Jiří Křivanec, the head of state prosecution in Ústí nad Labem, northern Bohemia, fired one of his prosecutors, Adam Bašný, earlier this month for having criticized the prosecution’s role in the case of the former deputy PM Jiří Čunek who was acquitted on charges of fraud last year. Mr Bašný’s sacking provoked an outcry from fellow prosecutors and other professionals. Minister Pospíšil said he had no choice but to sack the chief regional prosecutor because he refused to reinstate his former subordinate.