News

Czech daily Lidové noviny has been investigating a Norwegian report about a possible CIA plane landing in Tuřany, Brno. The report – filed by Norwegian daily Aftenposten - stated that a small Beechwood 350C, thought to be used by the Central Intelligence Agency, stopped for refuelling at the airport in Brno on Thursday before continuing on to destinations in Norway and Iceland. A Norwegian MP has called for an investigation, saying there was reason to believe such flights were used for the illegal transport of prisoners. In the Czech Republic, the Czech counter-intelligence service, as well as Czech Interior Minister Ivan Langer, declined to confirm the flight for Lidové noviny. Mr Langer told the Czech paper that “if such an incident had taken place, he would have hoped to have been informed”.

Romani guitarist and songwriter Ján Ačo Slepčík has died at the age of 58. The news was revealed by an associate at Charles University on Sunday. Slepčík, born in Pardubice, east Bohemia, founded his first band, Terne Čhave (Young Men) in Slovakia at the age of just 14. Later, he relocated to Prague in the 1980s, befriending Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal, and working with musicians like jazz artist Jiří Stivín and others. In recent years, Mr Slepčík took part in numerous events, including a performance at the Respekt festival in Prague. In 2004 he recorded the solo album “Gipsy Songs”.

Fans of football club Ostrava visiting Olomouc went on a rampage on Saturday at the home team’s football stadium, setting seats on fire and fighting with police. One fan was detained for giving the banned Nazi salute, five were arrested for alleged attacks on a public officer. Four others were sent to sobering-up stations. Ordinarily, Olomouc only releases 500 seats to guest fans but made an exception for Saturday’s game, releasing just under 4,000 tickets. Damages from the rampage have been estimated at 100,000 crowns.

Opponents of a planned US radar base in the Czech Republic – part of a proposed US missile defense shield in Europe – gathered in a demonstration on Saturday in the Czech capital. By police estimates several hundred met in Prague’s Malá strana district to make their way to the US Embassy. Organisers’ estimates were higher: around 1,200 present. Earlier, the demonstration - organised by the No to Bases initiative - received backing from the opposition Social Democrats as well as the Communists. A number of well-known opposition politicians – including former foreign minister Jan Kavan – also took part. Protestors reportedly demonstrated not only against the US radar on Czech soil but also against continued military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan.