Czech freedom of speech up for discussion

In the light of two recent court rulings, deemed as victories for freedom of speech, the Czech Ministry of Culture has just hosted a discussion, on where freedom of speech ends, and individual privacy begins. Politicians and journalists gathered to discuss whether a 'watchdog' was needed to regulate the Czech press, and what form this might take. Rosie Johnston was there.

Two recent court cases prompted this week's discussion. A Brno judge recently overturned Michal Zitko's conviction; he had been fined and given a suspended sentence for publishing Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf'. In the last couple of days a journalist, who had been charged with libelling the pop diva Helena Vondrackova, left court with his conviction quashed. Both cases were said to be triumphs for freedom of speech.

Right now, it is the Czech minister for culture's job to regulate the press. Pavel Dostal currently occupies this post. His movements are followed closely by the media. I asked him how he could be the focus of such media attention, and still regulate the media impartially:

"When the press prints something false about us, that obviously damages the ministry of culture As minister for culture, I'm in charge of legislation concerning libel, which doesn't mean that I am in charge of what the media can and can't do. What I'm more concerned with is drawing up rules which pick out those journalists who write untruths, or those in the media who are found to be telling lies. That's all."

At the moment in the Czech Republic, if someone feels that they have been wrongly maligned in the press, then they must take this complaint to the courts. It is widely felt that this process is far too slow. This week's verdict in the case of Helena Vodrackova, for example, concerns a statement made five years ago.

At this week's discussion, it was suggested that the Czech union of journalists should take matters into their own hands to speed up the process. This is how the union's head, Miroslav Jelinek, responded:

Helena Vondrackova, photo: CTK

"The union of journalists is only a voluntary organization. Its aim is to help journalists and speak on behalf of them. If they make mistakes, then it is our job to draw their attention to it. But we can't do anything to penalize them, because we are a public organization, with absolutely no authority."

Comparisons were drawn on Wednesday between the Czech media and the British press. On the whole, Czech headlines aren't quite as shocking as their British counterparts. Still, it was suggested that the Czech Republic should adopt a British style 'press complaints commission', whereby editors agree on their own set of guidelines and process complaints accordingly. But the majority of Czech papers and broadcasters are opposed to the idea.

According to the judge in Helena Vondrackova's recent libel case "it is for readers and not a judge to decide whether what was written was reasonable and convincing." So Czechs can continue to expect all forms of writing in their newsagents and bookshops.