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Czech police last year unlawfully took DNA samples from both persons remanded in custody and others who had been sentenced, the ombudsman, Otakar Motejl, said on Wednesday. Mr Motejl said the database into which the DNA samples were entered was itself not legally based. He said the police should destroy all DNA samples if asked to do so by prisoners who had been tested without their prior agreement. Mr Motejl said the database should be defined by law, not based on an internal police order as it is now. Police took 17,000 DNA samples in 2007.

Civic Democrat deputy Eva Dundáčková says the couples who take part in a TV wife-swap programme have come close to committing the crime of abandoning their children. The MP, a member of the Chamber of Deputies family committee, made the comment in a Czech Radio interview. Last week the committee wrote to TV Nova asking the station to drop the show “Výměna manželek”. However, the programme’s director said the children involved had given their consent, adding that it was filmed under the supervision of psychologists.

The renowned Israeli conductor Eliahu Inbal will take over as chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic in autumn 2009, a spokesperson for the orchestra said on Wednesday. Mr Inbal follows Zdeněk Mácal, who stepped down abruptly last year but still conducts some concerts for the Czech Philharmonic. The Prague-based orchestra will not appoint an interim chief conductor. Eliahu Inbal has broad international experience; he is best known for his interpretations of late-Romantic works but is also a noted opera conductor and has helmed the premieres of a number of modern pieces.

The opposition Social Democrats would like the media to be present should President Václav Klaus address the party’s MPs in the run up to Friday’s elections. Mr Klaus is seeking a second term in office, and is the favourite to win in the upcoming presidential elections. He has not yet confirmed that he will meet Social Democrat MPs, though his website suggests that he may visit the party’s deputies on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Social Democrats said that the party wanted any debate with Mr Klaus in the run up to the elections to be open to the public, and for this reason the party had invited the media along. The opposition Social Democrats have already pledged their support to Mr Klaus’s rival in the elections, the economist Jan Švejnar.