News

TV Prima has reported that the father of Ondrej, who is at the centre of a highly publicised abuse case, can be seen by his father despite a police ban on family visits. The director of the children's home where Ondrej is staying told the station that they would be allowing the father to make brief visits. Ondrej's mother Klara Mauerova is being charged with abusing the boy by locking him naked and bound in a small dark room, whilst making him eat off the floor and use a bucket as a toilet. His father, who is now divorced from Ondrej's mother, has not been charged with any abuse, but police had wanted to prevent him from seeing the boy for fear that he might influence him with regard to the case. Klara Mauerova faces up to 12 years in prison if found guilty of the abuse. Ondrej's aunt Katerina Mauerova has also been charged with abusing the boy and faces up to 8 years in prison if convicted.

Prague City Court has ordered President Vaclav Klaus to make a decision regarding the possible appointment of trainee judge Petr Langer to a post on the judiciary. Mr Langer had taken the president to court after he was one of 32 trainee judges whom President Klaus refused to appoint to judicial posts in March last year because they were under 30 and he considered them too young for such responsibilities. The president now has to make a decision in Langer's case within six months. If he again refuses to appoint him as a judge, he must cite legal grounds for doing so. Mr Langer will turn 30 in July.

The Czech Republic's largest open-air classical music event - Smetana's Litomysl International Opera Festival kicked off on Friday evening with a concert by popular Czech soprano Eva Urbanova. The annual event, which is held in the town of Litomysl where Czech composer Bedrich Smetana was born, attracts around 14,000 visitors from all over the world. Highlights of this year's festival include a rare performance of Bedrich Smetana's opera Smetana's The Kiss and Giacomo Puccini's Manon Lescaut with renowned foreign soloists. The festival will run until 1 July.

Czech tennis star Tomas Berdych has progressed to the final of the ATP Halle tournament in Germany. The twenty-one-year-old beat Finnish player Jarkka Nieminen in straight sets 7:6 a 6:4 in Saturday's first semi-final. He will now play either Phillipe Kohlschreiber or Marcos Baghdatis on Sunday for the third title of his career and prize money worth 96,000 US dollars.