News of Radio Prague
Police break up gang of car smugglers
Police in South Moravia say they have broken up a gang of twelve car smugglers, who rent expensive cars and export them to Russia, Lithuania and Ukraine, where they are sold on the black market. According to a police spokesperson, the gang has exported at least twelve stolen cars of a total value of six million Czech crowns since April last year. In the former Soviet Union, a two million crown Mercedes can be acquired for a mere 110,000 crowns on the black market, the police representative said, adding that the leader of the gang is a 35-year old foreigner, while the others are Czechs who owe him large sums of money.
Court gives environmentalists access to Temelin information
The Czech Supreme Administrative Court has made three separate rulings in which environmentalists are to gain access to any information concerning the controversial Temelin nuclear power plant in southern Bohemia. Czech environmentalists took the State Office for Nuclear Safety (SUJB) to court, after a several year-long unsuccessful battle for information including the power plant's safety plans, accident plans, and recorded technical faults.
Tereza Pergnerova found guilty of distributing drugs
Former TV star Tereza Pergnerova has been found guilty of distributing drugs. Ms Pergnerova was given a one year suspended sentence by a Prague court on Wednesday, which ruled she had supplied her brother's former girlfriend with the Czech made amphetamine pervitine. Ms Pergnerova, who gained fame as the host of a popular music programme in the 1990s, says she will appeal the verdict.
Dagmar Havlova acquitted by Prague court
A court in Prague has ruled that Dagmar Havlova, the sister-in-law of former Czech president Vaclav Havel, had not breached bankruptcy rules when she failed to provide information to facilitate a company sell-off. In 1999, Mrs Havlova bought part of Prague's Lucerna Palace from a company that was later forced to declare bankruptcy. The administrator of the company's assets asked Mrs Havlova to give him information and documents needed to dissolve and sell-off the company. She failed to do so and was taken to court.
Police arrest gang of drug smugglers
Czech police say they have arrested two men and a woman accused of smuggling cocaine and the party drug ecstasy from the Netherlands to the Czech Republic. The suspects are believed to be part of a four-member gang, whose leader has been detained by German customs officers. The Czech police hope to have him extradited to the Czech Republic. A police spokesperson said on Wednesday, most of the drugs were sold at nightclubs in the South Moravian towns of Znojmo and Mikulov, owned by one of the arrested men, an Austrian national. The gang was broken up under a six-month operation code-named Abiba, organised by the National Drug Centre.
Weather
Temperatures are expected to fall well below zero by the end of the week. Thursday has been forecast with partially clear skies and occasional snow and temperatures between -2 and -6 degrees Celsius.
