President Zeman under fire for anti-Islamic remarks

President Miloš Zeman has come under fire for statements that he made on a visit to the Zlín region on Friday. In an informal debate with the employees of a local company, Mr. Zeman said that migrants of the Muslim faith had no desire to integrate and if they settled here they would not respect Czech laws but adhere to the sharia. He predicted that in due time Muslim women in Europe would be stoned and thieves would have their hands chopped off. Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier slammed the president’s words as “irresponsible scaremongering” and Deputy-Prime Minister Pavel Bělobrádek also took issue with the head of state, reminding him that the Czech Republic had a Muslim senator who abided by the country’s laws and respected European values.