News

Photographer Jan Saudek has lost his court case against his former partner Sara and son Samuel, who have the rights to the firm SAUDEK.com, and much of the photographer’s past work. On Wednesday, a Prague court threw out Mr Saudek’s claim that he never signed any contract with his former partner, and that the documents she produced which entitled her to SAUDEK.com were false. Mr Saudek’s ex partner Sara now lives with the photographer’s son. The 73-year-old artist is famous for his technicolour nude photos in particular. According to the contract which still stands after Wednesday’s ruling, SAUDEK.com is entitled to 15 percent of the profits generated by the sale of his past work.

A debate on when to hold a vote on ratifying the European Union’s Lisbon treaty dominated the opening of an extraordinary session of the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday. While the Christian Democrats, the Greens and the Social Democrats have called for a vote on Lisbon to be held without delay, the Civic Democrats and the Communists would like to see the matter postponed for a second time. Discussions on when to put ratification of the EU’s reform treaty to a vote are set to continue on Wednesday.

Other key subjects on the agenda of the lower house session are plans to build a US radar base in central Bohemia, Czech military missions overseas and reform of the country’s health care system. The Greens have proposed that the subject of whether to allow the radar be removed from the agenda; they say before a vote takes place they want to hear the opinion of new US president Barack Obama on America’s missile defence shield project, of which the radar would be part.

A Prague court has a request from a former prosecutor found guilty of the judicial killing of democratic politician Milada Horáková in a 1950s Communist show trial to have her sentence adjourned, the news website novinky.cz reported. Ludmila Brožová-Polednová, who is in her 80s and almost blind, received six years for her role in the deaths of Milada Horáková and three other people. However, she has not begun serving her sentence, citing health grounds. Prague Municipal Court judge Petr Braun said on Tuesday that prison doctors would now decide on whether she was capable of going to jail. Ms Brožová-Polednová can appeal the ruling.

Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek says government measures to combat the financial crisis will focus on maintaining employment and making loans accessible to small and medium-sized businesses. He made the comments after a meeting of the government’s National Economic Council, a body set up to discuss ways to address the impacts of the credit crunch. Minister Kalousek said the cabinet would present proposals to fight the crisis during the Chamber of Deputies session that began on Tuesday.