News

Two Czech bug hunters arrested in India for poaching have maintained their innocence and called to be released. Emil Kučera and Petr Švácha are currently being detained in Darjeeling, awaiting their trial which is set to take place on July 21. The Indian press has suggested that the Czechs could belong to an international network of butterfly smugglers. If found guilty of poaching from the Singalila National Park, the pair could face up to seven years in prison. In a phone call to their colleague from the Czech Entomologists’ Association, Messrs Kučera and Švácha insisted that they were innocent.

Also on Thursday, the Czech Senate approved a new animal rights bill which restricts livestock transportation and outlaws the use of live animals for the purpose of training hunting dogs. The bill was presented to the Senate by Agriculture Minister Petr Gandalovič, who said that it introduced a number of ‘significant changes that improve the treatment of animals’. Livestock must now be transported for no longer than eight hours in total. Fines will be imposed for those who not only maltreat animals, but also fail to prevent the maltreatment of animals. The bill was previously rejected by the Senate, whose members were unhappy with the clause banning the use of live animals when training hunting dogs. But the Agriculture Minister revised the bill slightly, and on its second reading, it passed.

Prime Minister Topolánek has said further investigation into Deputy Prime Minister Jiří Čunek’s personal finances is meaningless. The prime minister was referring to the incomplete audit performed by the US investigation agency Kroll at the request of Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. The audit was meant to exonerate Mr. Čunek but although it ruled out that he had taken a bribe it could not rule out other financial irregularities in his personal finances. While Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg wants to continue with the investigation the prime minister argued that drawing-out the painful Čunek saga and covering the same ground repeatedly was meaningless.

This part of the Kroll report has angered Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek since it suggests that Mr. Čunek successfully lobbied for a Vsetín armament company at the time when Mr. Kalousek was defense minister. Minister Kalousek categorically rejected the idea that he or any of his subordinates had negotiated with Jiří Čunek at the time and ruled out that Mr. Čunek had been in a position to influence any armament contract or obtain sensitive information on the subject. The finance minister said he was considering legal steps against the Kroll detective agency.