President Václav Klaus received an honorary doctorate from Tokyo’s Waseda University Feb. 13 on the first day of a trip to Japan. The degree honored Klaus’ work to bring economic stability to the Czech Republic and promote cultural understanding with Japan, the university said. Klaus is scheduled to receive a second honorary degree and meet with the Japanese emperor and empress before returning home.

Prosecutors in Ostrava, north Moravia, filed new charges against accused billionaire fugitive Radovan Krejčíř, who has been on the lam in the Seychelles Islands since 2005, the daily Právo reported Feb. 13. Krejčíř has twice been convicted in absentia for charges related to fraud and conspiracy. New information from a Swiss bank led to the new charges of the misuse of information in a trade relationship, a state attorney told the daily.

A west Bohemia court convicted a man Feb. 12 of attempting to run over police officers at 2005’s CzechTek. Tomáš Matoušek was given a 16-month suspended sentence and two years of probation and has been banned from driving for 16 months. The same judge acquitted Matoušek in September, but an appeal overturned the verdict. In 2005, police were criticized for violently dispersing crowds at the event.