• 06/03/2008

    A two-day conference in Prague on the crimes of communism has concluded that they should not come under a statue of limitations. Czech MEP Jana Hybášková said that many criminals escape justice because of a statute of limitations and pointed out that communist crimes can qualify as crimes against humanity since they involve slave-labor, deportations and judiciary murders. According to the Czech Institute for Documentation and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism 234 people were executed in communist Czechoslovakia, more than 560 died while attempting to flee to the West, at least 10,000 died in labour camps and 1,800 people simply disappeared.

    Very few high-ranking communist officials have been punished for these crimes. They include Karel Hoffmann, sentenced in connection with the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, former Prague communist party leader Miroslav Štepán, former communist interior minister František Kincl and former counter-intelligence head Karel Vykypěl.

  • 06/03/2008

    Civic Democratic Party rebel Vlastimil Tlustý and two of his supporters in the ruling party on Tuesday joined forces with the opposition managing to postpone a Parliament debate on a controversial bill on church restitutions. The government-proposed bill envisages the state paying churches 270 billion crowns over the next 60 years as compensation for property confiscated by the communist regime. Mr. Tlustý agrees with the opposition that this sum is too generous and wants the compensation package revised. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek said on Monday he no longer considered Mr. Tlustý a member of his party.

  • 06/03/2008

    The results of a study conducted by Masaryk University in Brno suggest that age is the most frequent cause of discrimination in the Czech Republic, with almost one-fifth of respondents aged between 18 and 80 saying they had personally experienced it at some point in their lives. One-tenth of respondents said they had experienced gender discrimination, and six percent said they had been discriminated against for health reasons. The Czech Republic still lacks an anti-discrimination law, though the country should have passed it upon its entry to the EU in 2004. President Vaclav Klaus recently vetoed an anti-discrimination bill on the grounds that other laws guaranteed adequate protection against all forms of discrimination.

  • 06/03/2008

    The EU has dropped disciplinary action against the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy and Portugal over excessive budget deficits, judging they had sufficiently improved their finances, the bloc's Slovenian presidency said. The Czech Republic met EU criteria (3 percent of GDP) back in 2006 when its deficit fell to 2.7 percent of GDP. A year later, it dropped to 1.6 percent of GDP. The European Commission has recommended that the deficit should decrease to 1.4 percent this year and 1.1 percent in 2009.

  • 06/03/2008

    One of the four blocks at the Dukovany power plant in Moravia was taken out of operation on Tuesday as a result of human error. An employee working on the respective unit accidentally switched off one of the six circuits with cooling water in the unit's nuclear zone. Automatic protection systems then disconnected two turbines from the power grid and quickly reduced the unit’s output. The incident is said to have had no impact on nuclear safety. The block should be back in operation at full capacity on Tuesday evening. The remaining three blocks are supplying power at full output.

  • 06/03/2008

    Jiří Kotrba has become the new coach of the Czech national under-21 soccer team. He replaces Vitezslav Lavička who left the post to coach the Czech first soccer league team of Sparta Praha. Under Kotrba, the under-21 team is to play two European qualifiers in the autumn.

  • 06/03/2008

    Former Czech Republic international Ivan Hašek confirmed on Tuesday that he has extended his coaching contract with United Arab Emirates club Al Ahly by one year. Last April he rejected an offer to coach the national team when Karel Bruckner stands down after Euro 2008.

  • 06/02/2008

    Activists Jan Tamáš and Jan Bednář will suspend their three week hunger strike in protest against a plan to build a U.S. tracking radar base in the Czech Republic. Last week, the protesters met with the head of the opposition Social Democrats Jiří Paroubek who suggested a chain hunger strike of various public figures opposing the plan be held instead. President Václav Klaus, on the other hand, refused to meet with the protestors, calling the hunger strike a form of blackmail that is appropriate in totalitarian regimes but not in a democracy.

    Author: Jan Richter
  • 06/02/2008

    The Czech government sent two versions of its EU presidency programme to Brussels on Monday. European Affairs Minister Alexandr Vondra said one of the versions envisaged the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty by all EU member states, whereas the other allows for the contrary. The Czech Republic will assume the EU presidency in January 2009 under the motto “Europe without Barriers”.

    Author: Jan Richter
  • 06/02/2008

    The opposition Social Democrats would like an early general election to be held in the spring of 2009, the party’s vice-chairman Bohuslav Sobotka told journalists on Monday, noting that the early election could be held simultaneously with elections to the European Parliament. Mr Sobotka said the current coalition government was on the verge of disintegration. The centre-right government of Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats and the Greens has recently been dealing with a number of controversial issues including fiscal reform and the plan to site a U.S. radar base on Czech territory. Its regular mandate will expire in the middle of 2010.

    Author: Jan Richter

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