News

The chief rabbi of the Czech Republic Karol Sidon was hospitalized with heart problems as he was about to face a tribunal after being dismissed from his Prague post. Sidon was sacked at the end of June by the Prague Jewish community, who claimed he was unable to handle his duties. When Sidon denied the claims, the community suggested a court rule on the dispute. A hospital spokesman said rabbi Sidon's condition was stable and predicted that it would not be a long hospitalization.

President Vaclav Klaus has met his Slovak counterpart Ivan Gasparovic who is on a one day visit to the Czech Republic. The Slovak head of state, who took office last month, is thus fulfilling an unwritten agreement between the Czech Republic and Slovakia in that their presidents always schedule their first visit abroad to the former "sister state". After their meeting the two presidents said that relations between the two countries were exceptional and were to remain so. The Czechoslovak federation broke up in 1993 in what the papers described as "a velvet divorce" and the two countries have maintained above-standard relations ever since. They supported each other in their ambition to join the EU and NATO and they cooperate closely within the Visegrad Group of four Central European states.

Consumer prices in the Czech Republic in June showed the highest year-on-year growth in more than two years, rising by 2.9 percent compared with June 2003, according to official figures released on Monday. The price of goods and services was up in most sectors, largely influenced by a rise in value added taxes earlier this year from five to 19 percent. Cigarette and alcohol prices rose particularly in June. For the first few months after January's VAT hike retailers had been selling old stock at the same price as before but a 7.5 percent rise on new stock kicked in last month. The overall rise in prices, the highest since April 2002, was slightly below analysts' forecasts of three percent. Compared to May, consumer prices rose by 0.2 percent in June, also slightly below predictions of 0.3 percent.

The Czech Republic has come under fresh criticism for allowing the practice of "cage" beds in its psychiatric institutions. The beds have bars on all sides and the top is covered by netting from which the patient cannot escape. Joanne Rowling, author of the famous Harry Potter books, has written a letter to the Czech embassy in London protesting against what she described as an appalling and cruel practice, most especially with regard to child patients. The British Sunday Times brought an in depth report on this practice some time ago, writing that children were trapped in these cage beds for hours without the presence of an attendant or nurse. The practice has also been criticized by Human Rights Watch.