Parliament appoints deputy ombudsman
After months of discussions - first as to whether the Czechs really need an ombudsman to protect their rights, and later, who that ombudsman should be; former justice minister Otakar Motejl was selected for the post in December. The Lower House of Parliament has now appointed his deputy. She is Anna Sabatova and, says Olga Szantova, this decision did not come as a surprise.
Anna Sabatova is a well-known and highly respected human rights activist. Since the Velvet Revolution, she has been active in human rights and social institutions, and for some time she was the deputy chairperson of the Czech Helsinki Committee. Before 1989, she was a signatory of Charter 77, and was active in other dissident organizations that fought the Communist regime. Commentator Jan Urban knows her well from those days.
