Press Review

Today Czech daily newspapers report on the resignation of MP Hana Marvanova and analyze its implications. All of the papers also carry extensive photos of Jozo Raz, the lead singer of the Slovak pop band, Elan. The band attracted nearly as many fans to Prague as the Rolling Stones did recently.

MLADA FRONTA DNES writes that over 70 thousand paying concert-goers attended the Elan concert, while an estimated 15 thousand did not have tickets. HOSPODARSKE NOVINY calls Elan "average stars" and remarks that the band was one of the most famous pop groups during the communist regime. While Elan enjoyed the limelight, many other excellent musicians were unable to practice their craft as they opposed the totalitarian regime.

LIDOVE NOVINY leads with a report on a diplomatic dispute between the former Czech foreign minister, Jan Kavan, and his successor, Cyril Svoboda. Mr. Svoboda was in Israel Sunday to celebrate the 80th birthday of Israeli politician Simon Peres. To his unpleasant surprise he discovered that at the same time, Mr. Kavan was unofficially meeting with Palestinian officials.

Czech diplomats are not sure of his purpose in Palestine, because Mr. Kavan is no longer in the Czech diplomatic service. Not only is he a rank and file member of parliament, but his term as the president of the United Nations general assembly ended last week.

LIDOVE NOVINY speculates that Mr. Kavan may have felt guilty that he failed to improve relations with Palestine during his term as Foreign Minister. Czech-Palestinian relations were damaged when former Prime Minister, Milos Zeman, publicly compared Yasser Arafat to Adolf Hitler.

On a different topic, MLADA FRONTA DNES devotes a full page to theft. According to the paper, more than half of thefts and burglaries are committed by repeat offenders. The paper quotes a high-ranking police officer as saying that a longer jail time would help - not as a deterrent, but because the criminals would not have the opportunity to steal again for a longer period of time.

The paper conducted an experiment - they left a bicycle unattended in various places in several Czech towns. While in Ostrava, Northern Moravia, the bicycle disappeared in less than an hour. In Prague, Brno and Pilsen, they were able to collect the bicycle untouched after five hours. The paper also carries a series of photos documenting the theft in Ostrava - the culprit was a young boy of approximately 12 years of age, but there is no mention if he was a repeat offender.