News of Radio Prague
Zeman in favour of ending sanctions against North Korea
On an official visit to South Korea, Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman has said he is in favour of ending sanctions against North Korea. Mr. Zeman told reporters in Seoul that sanctions against undemocratic regimes are ineffective and that this also applies to the communist regime in North Korea. Mr. Zeman said he believes that the way to effect change in such a regime is by the transfer of goods, people and information.
Chvalovsky's bail repealed, back on remand
The head of the Czech-Moravian Football Association, Frantisek Chvalovsky, has been placed on remand, after a court in Prague upheld an appeal by the state prosecutor to have his bail repealed. Mr. Chvalovsky faces charges of large-scale fraud, amounting to more than one billion Czech Crowns, or around thirty million dollars. He was originally released on bail of ten million Czech Crowns, but the state prosecutor appealed, saying that he feared Mr. Chvalovsky would try to exert influence on witnesses in the case. Mr. Chvalovksy was transferred to a prison in Prague and will remain there pending trial.
Police arrest suspected salmonella blackmailer
Police in Prague have arrested a man suspected of threatening a food wholesaler that he would infect their food products with salmonella in attempt to blackmail the company. The fifty-year-old man has been charged with attempted blackmail. The police have declined to divulge more information, as there are apparently other charges under investigation.
Court freezes assets of Marta Zelezna
A court in Prague has frozen the assets of Marta Zelezna, the ex-wife of Vladimir Zelezny, the director of the largest Czech commercial television station, TV Nova. Mr. Zelezny has been fighting for ownership of TV Nova against American businessman Ronald Lauder, and according to an arbitration court decision earlier this year, Mr. Zelezny has to pay Mr. Lauder's company, CME, twenty seven million dollars to settle the case. The court has frozen property belonging to Marta Zelezna that she received as part of her divorce settlement, which may be required to pay CME its money in full.
Fresh border protest against Temelin
Austrian environmentalists have held fresh a fresh demonstration in protest over the Temelin nuclear power plant in South Bohemia. Unlike protest actions held last autumn, activists did not block any border crossings and the demonstration was held without incident.
Police arrest man suspected of large-scale car part theft
Police in the Central Bohemian town of Vrchlabi have arrested a man suspected of stealing car parts from a local Skoda car factory worth a total of twenty million Czech Crowns, or more than five hundred thousand US dollars, over the course of three years. The police apparently arrested the man at the Polish border with two million Czech Crowns worth of car parts. Following further enquiries it was allegedly discovered that parts had been going missing for three years. The man has been charged with theft, and if convicted, could face up to twelve years in prison.
And finally, a quick look at the weather forecast.
Saturday should see overcast skies, with scattered rain showers in places. Daytime high temperatures are expected to reach as high as fifteen degrees Celsius. Night-time lows on Friday could drop to as low as zero degrees Celsius.
