• 1989 student demonstration reenacted in protest at Communist Party
    11/17/2004

    Meanwhile, the student demonstration which sparked the changes of 1989 was reenacted in the Czech capital, beginning at Albertov and continuing to Narodni and later to Wenceslas Square. The march was entitled "Podzim bez komunistu" ("Autumn without Communists"), in protest at the present-day Communist Party.

    On Wednesday evening a huge free concert called "Narodni Jinak" ("Narodni Otherwise") was held on the city centre street.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Communist past should not be oversimplified, says President Klaus
    11/17/2004

    President Vaclav Klaus, addressing a ceremonial meeting of the Chamber of Deputies, said the Czech Republic's communist past should not be oversimplified. He said communism was part of Czech history and was therefore part of the national identity. Mr Klaus said the best way to come to terms with the country's communist past was to be positive today, and in so doing build a society which would not allow the emergence of similar regimes.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Havel, MPs walk out of Chamber during speech by Communist leader
    11/17/2004

    During a speech by the leader of the Communist Party, Miroslav Grebenicek, several MPs walked out of the Chamber, as did former president Havel. President Klaus remained seated during Mr Grebenicek's address.

    Before the Chamber of Deputies meeting police broke up a heated demonstration outside the headquarters of the Communist Party organized by the Young Conservatives.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Service honours student whose 1939 death inspired 1989 march
    11/17/2004

    Wreathes were laid on Wednesday at a memorial to Jan Opletal, a medical student who died on November 17, 1939. A procession to his grave in 1989 on International Students Day turned into the first demonstration of the Velvet Revolution, when students broke away from the authorized route and marched into the centre of Prague.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Pension bonuses for former prisoners of conscience
    11/16/2004

    The Cabinet has approved pension bonuses for former political prisoners and labour camp inmates under the communist regime. Meeting on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the protests that led to the fall of communism, the Cabinet approved a directive according to which former prisoners of conscience should in future receive regular bonuses to their pensions, 50 crowns for every month that they had spent in a communist prison or labour camp. According to the Confederation of Political Prisoners the new directive will affect some 6,000 former political prisoners. Those eligible will have to apply for the bonus.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Police crack down on baby trafficking
    11/16/2004

    The police has charged five people with trafficking in babies. According to police spokeswoman Iva Knolova further arrests may follow. Several days ago the police prevented a planned transaction at Trebic airport, arresting a doctor and young woman as they were preparing to hand over a newborn to a childless couple. The woman had a large amount of cash in her possession. According to the police spokeswoman the ringleader is a woman and the gang includes a head of department of a maternity ward. Those involved could face up to ten years in prison.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Transsexual fights back
    11/16/2004

    A transsexual is planning to sue the Czech military for discrimination, after the army refused to employ her as a driver. Thirty eight year old Jaroslava Brokesova was turned away despite the fact that she passed all the necessary tests. The military's health committee rejected her application on the grounds that she had undergone a sex change operation. Brokesova says she plans to file two law suits, the first in an attempt to overturn the committee's decision, the second to claim damages for having been forced to make her case public.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Sale of Telecom delayed
    11/16/2004

    The Czech government has delayed a decision on selling its majority stake in the telecommunications operator Cesky Telecom, amidst a ministerial split on how best to proceed. Several ministers, including Prime Minister Stanislav Gross, favour a flotation on the capital markets but others claim that selling to a strategic investor would be a better long term option. A floatation of the state's 51 percent stake would bring immediate funds to the cash-strapped government. Several previous attempts to sell the government's stake in Telecom failed.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Civic Democrats ready to form 'broad consensus' of political groups to call for early elections, says deputy chairman Petr Necas
    11/15/2004

    The deputy chairman of the main opposition Civic Democrats, Petr Necas, told Czech Radio's radiozurnal programme on Monday that his party is ready to form a "broad consensus of political forces" to push for holding early parliamentary elections, now scheduled for 2006. The centre-right Civic Democrats won 18 of 27 seats being contested for the Czech Senate this month while the ruling Social Democrats failed to pick up a single seat. Commenting on these results, Mr Necas said the "democratic legitimacy" of the Social Democrat-led government was "gradually disappearing". This year, the centre-right Civic Democrats defeated the left-leaning Social Democrats in regional Czech elections and in the country's first elections to the European Parliament.
    Author: Brian Kenety

  • Health Minister Milada Emmerova has presented her draft plan to reform the health-care system
    11/15/2004

    The health minister, Milada Emmerova, has presented the government with her draft five-year plan to reform the nation's heath-care system. Her proposals include increasing state oversight of health insurers and reducing spending on drugs. Ms Emmerova also proposed that every state hospital appoint an ombudsman to address patients' concerns.
    Author: Brian Kenety

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