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The number of complaints dealt with by municipal police in Prerov, North Moravia, dropped by 70 % last year. This was due to the use of dictaphones by all 43 police officers, said Prerov's municipal police director Omar Tieraki. Police officers use dictaphones at will during their everyday duties and recorded conversations may serve as evidence when dealing with complaints or when police verdicts are disputed. According to director Teiraki, municipal policemen in Prerov have also improved their communication skills because of the dictaphones. All the records are kept by the municipal police for internal use.

Seven people died, 20 were seriously injured and 130 ended up with light injuries on roads in the Czech Republic over the two days of holidays, police statistics suggest. This makes the two days even worse than the first July weekend that brings large numbers of drivers onto the roads as it marks the beginning of summer holidays. There has been an overall increase in the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents in comparison to last year. Last July saw the introduction of the new drivers' point system which improved road safety but now situation has gone back to normal.

Protestant churches in the Czech Republic are commemorating the legacy of reformer priest Jan Hus who was burnt at the stake in 1415. In his memory July 6th is a national holiday in the Czech Republic. Services dedicated to him have been held in Hussite, Evangelical and other Protestant churches around the country. Jan Hus was born around 1370 and after studying in Prague was made parish priest at the city's Bethlehem chapel. He was strongly influenced by the English reformer priest John Wycliffe, whose writings he translated into Czech. Hus refused to renounce his faith and was declared a heretic and excommunicated by a Catholic tribunal, before being burnt at the stake.

Another Czech fugitive businessman - Viktor Kozeny - also wanted for extensive fraud and corruption both in the Czech Republic and the United States remains in the Bahamas. Czech efforts to secure his extradition have not been successful and although it seemed that the United States would have more clout in this respect hopes that he would be brought to justice have now suffered a significant setback. A Chicago judge recently dismissed bribery charges against two of Kozeny's alleged accomplices - American businessmen accused of trying to pay-off top Azerbaijan officials over the country's abandoned 1990s oil privatisation programme. Judge Scheindlin dismissed the bribery counts against David Pinkerton, the former managing director of AIG Global Investment Corporation, and Frederic Bourke, the handbag tycoon, after ruling that the statute of limitations on the charges had expired. The pair still stands accused of making false statements. Although the judge did not dismiss the charges against Kozeny observers say this ruling is likely to help his defence.