Court sentences squatters to community work

Five squatters out of 24 arrested by police in Prague at the weekend after they moved into an empty building in Prague’s Albertov district, have been sentenced to 80 – 100 hours of community work, while a sixth person received a two-month suspended sentence. The ruling was handed down by the Prague 2 district court on Monday; rulings on an additional 17 people charged have yet to be decided. The squatters charged were forcibly removed from the building in Albertov, Prague 2, on Sunday, after the police were unable to get them to quit the premises of their own accord. A day earlier squatters and their supporters had physically clashed with police officers as they attempted to gain access to the site.