• Italy asks for extradition of convicted mafia boss
    09/19/2005

    Italy has asked the Czech authorities for the extradition of Luigi Putrone, a Sicilian mafia boss who had been convicted in absentia of a number of crimes committed in the 1980s and 1990s. They included the kidnapping and murder of a 13-year-old boy, the son of a Mafia informer. For at least the last five years Putrone had been living under an assumed name in the north Bohemian town of Usti nad Labem where he was arrested by Czech police last month.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Writer Pavel Kohout fails at Strasbourg court - press
    09/19/2005

    Czech writer Pavel Kohout and his wife Jelena Masinova failed with their complaint against the Czech Republic over protracted court proceedings, presented to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, the daily Hospodarske noviny wrote on Monday. Mr Kohout and his wife complained about the length of court proceedings deciding on the copyright for a Czechoslovak film on which they participated in the 1960s. The Strasbourg court ruled that the proceedings, which lasted for seven years, were not groundlessly protracted. Until now, 61 complaints against the Czech Republic have been lodged with the Strasbourg court and the country won only four cases including this latest one.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Wanted businessman Krejcir not planning to return to face trial, will co-operate with courts
    09/18/2005

    Fugitive businessman Radovan Krejcir says he is not planning to return from the Seychelles to face trial in the Czech Republic, but says he is willing to co-operate with the Czech courts. He told TV Nova he wanted to clear his name of charges of fraud and planning the murder of a customs officer. In another interview, for Czech Television, Mr Krejcir recounted how he had managed to escape from Czech police two months ago. His wife is also in the Seychelles, where they both have citizenship. She faces charges of money laundering.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Sobotka: Sellers and distributors of petrol too slow to react to price fall
    09/18/2005

    Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says Czech sellers and distributors of petrol have been too slow to react to a fall in oil prices. For that reason the government has rejected a proposal to introduce a lower tax rate on petrol, the minister said on Prima TV on Sunday. The cost of a litre of petrol in the Czech Republic recently increased significantly following a rise in oil prices on world markets.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • President Klaus begins six-day working visit to United States on Monday
    09/18/2005

    The Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, is due to meet the United States vice president, Dick Cheney, and the secretary of state, Condoleeza Rice, during a six-day working visit to the US which begins on Monday. Mr Klaus is also set to open an exhibition in New York dedicated to the 14th century Czech king and holy roman emperor Charles IV.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Radiozurnal: Czech ambassador to NATO suspected of corruption
    09/18/2005

    The Czech ambassador to NATO, Stefan Fule, is being investigated by the police's anti-corruption unit, Czech Radio's Radiozurnal reported. Mr Fule is suspected of breaking the law on state secrets and covering up two car accidents in Lithuania when he served there as Czech ambassador.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Police allow neo-Nazi rock concert to go ahead
    09/18/2005

    Police did not intervene during a concert by neo-Nazi rock bands in a pub near Strakonice, south Bohemia on Saturday night. Hundreds of police officers were on guard outside the concert, which was attended by around 500 skinheads and described by anti-Nazi activists as the biggest such gathering this year in the Czech Republic.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Paroubek: Czech Republic wants non-permanent seat on UN Security Council
    09/17/2005

    Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek has said the Czech Republic would like to fill one of the non-permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council in the years 2008 and 2009. Mr Paroubek was speaking in New York as the UN's annual General Assembly got underway; he said the Czech Republic could be awarded the place thanks to its participation in UN peace missions and its Democracy Fund, and the country's active role in defending human rights and the fight against international terrorism. He rejected suggestions membership of the Security Council would be too expensive for the Czech Republic.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech soldiers to restrict movement in Iraq for security reasons
    09/17/2005

    Czech military police in Iraq are to operate in only one base, for security reasons, the commander of the 8th regiment said on Friday. The training of Iraqi policemen will now take place where the Czech MPs are housed, the Shaiba base in the south of the country. Previously the Czech soldiers had to drive eight miles to a training centre on dangerous roads.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Plaque unveiled on site of 1805 Battle of Three Emperors
    09/17/2005

    A plaque has been unveiled in Slavkov, south Moravia, on the site of the famous Battle of the Three Emperors, which took place in 1805. The venue, known internationally as Austerlitz, was the scene of Napoleon Bonaparte's most famous victory, when he destroyed the armies of Russia and Austria, despite having fewer soldiers.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

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