News

The Social Democrat minister of agriculture, Miroslav Toman, is creating a commission to oversee an audit relating to the restitution of church property, the newspaper Právo reported on Saturday. Mr. Toman told the daily that the commission – due to start work at the end of this month – would focus on the forestry agency Lesy ČR and other bodies under his ministry that had in the past handed anything over to churches under divisive legislation passed five years ago.

The recently installed government of ANO and the Social Democrats say that financial settlements made to churches in lieu of property seized by the Communists after 1948 should be taxed. That was a demand of the present-day Communist Party for supporting the minority coalition on key votes. Critics say the move is akin to imposing a charge on a robbery victim.

Some sixty Czech followers of the spiritual movement Falun Gong gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in Prague on Friday for a silent protest against human rights abuse in China and the persecution of Falun Gong followers.

The protest –at which most participants quietly meditated – aimed to raise awareness of the fact that Falun Gong followers in China are killed in connection with the illegal trade in organs. Some participants held up photos of people killed for this purpose, while others had their mouths taped over.

There were participants dressed as doctors and Chinese police who acted out scenes of the atrocities taking place against Falun Gong followers.

The regional court in Hradec Kralove has sent a Czech man to six years in jail for child pornography. The man, the last of a four-member gang to be sentenced, was found guilty of producing and selling child porn photos and videos to clients abroad.

The case involved over 100 children aged between seven and 18 years, with whom the gang allegedly made over 600,000 pictures and videos. The man partially admitted his guilt.

Speculation has emerged that the prime minister’s nominee for the post of labour minister, Jana Maláčová, may have been implicated in suspected irregularities in the distribution of grants at the ministry.

A former deputy at the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry said Maláčová had been involved in a case that was now under investigation.

The former labour minister Jaroslava Nemcova has denied that she had pressed charges against Malacova in connection with the irregularities uncovered, saying that the respective audit had found fault with the work of whole departments, without naming any individuals. Maláčová herself has not responded to the accusations.