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Around 80 people demonstrated in support of Christian Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Jiri Cunek outside government offices on Wednesday. The organiser of the event, musician Zdenek Horvath, said that the demonstrators were there to protest against the way police are investigating corruption allegations made against Mr Cunek, who is accused of taking a bribe of 500,000 crowns (25,000 US dollars) when he was mayor of the Moravian town of Vsetin five years ago. Mr Horvath said that those prosecuting Mr Cunek were simply hellbent on ousting him from politics and were not afraid of forging evidence to help their case. Mr Horvath also praised the deputy prime minister's controversial views on Roma integration. Mr Cunek met briefly with the demonstrators to thank them for their support.

On a working visit to Sweden, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said he expected a thorough investigation into corruption allegations surrounding the lease of Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets to the Czech Republic. Speaking to journalists in Stockholm, the Czech Prime Minister said he could not say how far the police investigation had progressed and he could not speed it up, but that everything was being done to get to the bottom of the affair. A scandal surrounding the lease of the fighter jets broke earlier this year when Swedish TV broadcast secret recordings of former Czech foreign minister Jan Kavan saying that Czech politicians took bribes linked to a deal to purchase Gripen supersonic jets from the British-Swedish consortium BAE Systems/Saab. Suspicions of corruption were further fanned by Mr Kavan's implication that a Czech police investigation could be influenced.

Polna in south Moravia has been named the historical town of the year by the Association of Czech Historical Settlements. The town in the Bohemian-Moravian highlands won the award for preparing and implementing the best revitalisation project for an urban conservation area. The town, which has a population of 5,000 people, will receive a prize of one million Czech crowns (nearly 50,000 USD). The urban conservation area in Polna includes restored houses, a chateau and castle, a brewery, schools, an old hospital, churches, a square and a former Jewish district with a synagogue and other protected historical buildings. A total of 45 Czech towns took part in the competition.

Workers at the Skoda Auto car plant in Mlada Boleslav have gone on strike in demand of higher pay. Thousands of employees downed tools for two and a half hours during the first shift of the day, with later shifts planning to do likewise. The strike means no cars will be produced at the factory on Tuesday; the company says it expects to lose 55 million crowns (over 2.5 million USD). On Friday Skoda Auto management withdrew an offer of a 13-percent pay rise for employees, and returned to an earlier proposal to increase wages by 7.5 percent.

Figures released on Monday showed that March was the most successful month in the history of the company. Last month Skoda Auto recorded over 60,000 vehicles sold, which represented a year-on-year rise of almost 15 percent. Over half of sales in the first quarter of this year were in western Europe.