Press Review

After a relatively quiet weekend the papers feature a variety of domestic stories on their front pages: yet another case of paramedics being attacked by a drunk when responding to an emergency call, maintenance problems on Czech roads in the wake of heavy snow, and statistics which say that Czechs are the worlds biggest beer drinkers.

Mlada Fronta Dnes says it's a happy day for two Czech prisoners serving 50 year sentences in a Thai jail for heroin smuggling. Under a new agreement between the Czech Republic and Thailand, they are being allowed to return home and serve the remainder of their sentences in the Czech Republic.

Its not freedom, but it is the next best thing, the paper says, noting that the prisoners will be doing time in more humane conditions close to their families. They will also benefit from the Czech penal code in being able to ask to be released on condition after serving two thirds of their sentences or applying for a presidential pardon.

A highway pile up involving 20 cars over the weekend has evoked fresh controversy over the state of Czech roads, says Hospodarske Noviny. The police called to the scene of the accident claim that poor road maintenance was to blame, maintenance crews counter that they had treated the road with salt just two hours earlier.

There is general dissatisfaction with the state of Czech roads in the winter -with drivers battling ice, snow and slush - but road management says it is doing its best given the equipment and personnel at its disposal. Doing a better job would cost billions of crowns more -road management says - adding that anything extra spent during the winter will be lacking in the spring and summer when it comes to repairing potholes on the roads.

Lidove Noviny reports that agriculture minister Jaroslav Palas has decided to defend the interests of Czech producers who are being stifled by the demands of strong hypermarket chains. The minister has told the paper that hypermarkets in this country are behaving in a manner which would be unacceptable in Western Europe.

Where there are no morals there has to be a law, minister Palas said, adding that a new draft law was ready to be debated and that it would cut short some of these unacceptable practices -such as making producers pay registration fees and fees for more advantageous placement of their gods on the shelves.

Hypermarkets are fighting the new law, arguing that in the long run it would only hurt local producers because if they feel disadvantaged the big stores would simply buy from producers abroad. A spokesman for the hypermarket Globus told the paper the chain-store was responding to consumer pressure in keeping prices as low as possible and it was inevitable that producers should feel the pressure as well. The opposition Civic Democrats have warned minister Palas to tread carefully so as not to do local producers more harm than good.