News

The US Embassy in Prague will support Prague Pride, a week-long series of events celebrating LGBT culture due to begin on Monday. In a press release the embassy said it would illuminate the Glorietta pavilion with a rainbow of colors on Monday evening to mark the beginning of Pride week and had organized film screenings in support of LGBT pride. The American centre will screen the film Moonlight and the AIDS documentary How to Survive a Plague. The US Embassy has actively supported Prague Pride for many years. This year the organisers of Prague Pride say they will place a special emphasis on the human rights of LGBT people in repressive Eastern states such as Chechnya and Armenia. The festival will traditionally end with a march through the city centre on Saturday.

Thirteen Czechs remain hospitalized in Italy following Friday’s accident of a tourist bus near the town of Bolzano. None of the injuries are reported to be life-threatening. The driver was killed in the accident in which the bus swerved off the road and crashed in a field. The cause of the accident is being investigated. According to reports in the Italian press the bus’ brakes failed and the driver prevented a far bigger tragedy by driving the vehicle off the road. Twenty-five of the tourists are returning home on Sunday.

The authorities frequently fail to inform people that their phone was tapped by the police, according to Czech public television. As a result, many people have no idea their privacy was invaded. The issue was highlighted by Journalist Janek Kroupa who says he has proof his phone was tapped in 2012 but he never received notice of the fact that the wiretapping had been concluded. According to Czech law the police have a duty to inform people that they had been tapped in connection with an investigation. In 2015 the police reportedly wiretapped 202 phones. Only 90 people were later informed about the fact.

Two of the three young men whom the police charged with arson in connection with the fire that ravaged a historic wooden church in Guty, Silesia have been remanded in custody. A police investigator said the youths had set fire to the church intentionally and been planning other acts of violence. One of the three is a minor. If convicted they could face up to 15 years in prison. The church, dating back to 1563 was one of the best preserved wooden churches in the country. It was completely destroyed by the fire and the damage is estimated to be tens of millions of crowns. A public collection is underway to help finance the construction of a new church.