Interior Minister Ivan Langer says the Czech police force will not suffer even though more than 1,000 officers have quit since early January, daily Mladá fronta Dnes (MfD) reported Feb. 24. Critics say the force is dwindling due to a new law that reduces overtime pay and bonuses. Langer said the majority of departing officers have worked in the force for 29 years or more, and that recruitment campaigns are under way.

Petr Zelenka, the east Bohemian nurse accused of killing eight patients last year and attempting to murder nine more, could have started killing earlier than investigators previously thought, MfD reported Feb. 26. Investigators are looking into the 2005 death of a patient in the Havlíčkův Brod hospital where Zelenka worked. Zelenka reportedly confessed to the murders after his Dec. 1 arrest.

The Office for Personal Data Protection (ÚOOÚ) has begun proceedings against daily Hospodářské noviny for publishing the debts of top politicians in its Feb. 26 issue. The financial data is accessible to the public, but individuals must first visit the office of the Chamber of Deputies for a password. However, publishing the information is illegal except in a few situations, a ÚOOÚ spokeswoman said. The four ministers whose debts were published have said they didn’t mind having that information made public.