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December 4th, 2008
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May 30th, 2007 | Current Issue

Trapped in Iran
Prague journalist Parnaz Azima is under virtual house arrest with no end in sight

Reforms proposal fails to satisfy
Coalition members, others to challenge sweeping tax changes

New life planned for Vítkov Hill
Rebuilt statue and café part of envisioned 'museum mile'

Bush in Prague
Periodic updates: Tensions precede U.S. president's visit but mass demonstrations absent

Opposition to the radar base is rooted in past
Public feels soldiers are soldiers, analyst says

'Shock' over tourist death verdict
Irishman Fergal Barry died after a 2005 attack in Prague center that remains unsolved

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BRIEFS


IRAQ The Iraqi Oil Ministry has awarded a consortium of companies led by the Czech firm Technoexport a 2.5 billion Kč ($119 million) contract to provide equipment to refineries in Iraq, the companies announced May 24. That the former Czechoslovakia helped build some 60 percent of Iraq’s refining capacity aided the bidding, the companies said.

STERILIZED A District State Attorney’s office in north Bohemia ruled that the forced sterilization of women is a crime, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported May 28. The decision is expected to affect outstanding complaints by local Romany, or Gypsy, women that doctors sterilized them without their consent. The cases had been shelved because previous legal precedence held the doctors not criminally responsible, ČTK said.
EMBASSY The U.S. Embassy is launching an online service June 1 that allows visa applicants to schedule their visa appointments online, the embassy said in a press release. The online service at Prague.usembassy.org replaces a telephone appointment system. The service, for nonimmigrant applicants only, is free.
LABOR CODE The Confederation of Industry and the ČMKOS labor union have agreed on 16 amendments to the new Labor Code, Hospodářské noviny reported May 29. The amendments will simplify administrative tasks and close loopholes in the code, which came into effect Jan. 1. With bipartisan support, the amendment is expected to easily pass in Parliament.
MEMORIAL Russia would consider the removal of a memorial to Soviet soldiers in Brno, south Moravia, a hostile gesture, the Russian consulate in Brno told ČTK May 28. The stone monument commemorates 326 Red Army soldiers who died liberating the city at the end of World War II. A Brno deputy mayor has called the memorial a “monster.”

UKRAINE Rival leaders agreed May 28 to hold parliamentary elections in September, thereby ending a political crisis that had caused demonstrations in recent weeks. President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych have been engaged in a two-year battle for power and have recently wrestled for control of the country’s law enforcement agencies.

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA A former Bosnian Serb soldier who set up a “rape house” during the war in 1992 escaped from prison May 25 after faking a toothache. Radovan Stankovic had been convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 16 years in 2005. He escaped during a transfer to a dentist in Foca, Bosnia, and jumped into a getaway car. Police are searching for him.
NETHERLANDS The government announced May 26 that it would grant amnesty to up to 30,000 failed asylum seekers who entered the country before 2001. The plan includes $74 million (3.5 billion Kč) for towns to provide housing and integration courses. The move represents a break with the former center-right government’s immigration policies.
RUSSIA Police detained about 30 gay rights activists after clashes in Moscow March 27 during which they were attacked by far-right and Orthodox opponents. The activists were trying to submit a petition to the mayor’s office to allow them to hold a Gay Pride parade. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993.
SPAIN Local elections May 27 resulted in a tie for the country’s rival Socialist Party and conservative Popular Party. The Socialist Party came to power after the 2004 Madrid train bombings led to the loss of the conservatives’ power. National elections will be held next year.
TURKEY U.S. Embassy officials in Ankara have confirmed that two U.S. warplanes entered Turkish airspace for four minutes May 24. An embassy spokeswoman said the breach appeared to be inadvertent but that an investigation is under way. The incident comes as speculation grows over whether Turkish authorities are planning an attack on Kurdish rebels in Iraq.
IRELAND Prime Minister Bertie Ahern won his third term May 24 and must now look to form a coalition government over the next several weeks. Ahern, of the Fianna Fail party, is known for his pro-business, free-market stance. Critics say state-funded services have not been a priority.
SERBIA Two former paramilitary police officers were convicted May 23 of killing pro-reform Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic in Belgrade in 2003. They were sentenced to 40 years in prison. Ten other defendants were convicted for lesser roles in the murder and sentenced to shorter terms. Djindjic had helped bring former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to The Hague in 2001 for trial.
UK UK officials requested May 28 that Russia extradite a man accused of poisoning Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko last November in London. Moscow has refused, saying its constitution forbids the extradition, but the United Kingdom says previous agreements between the two countries allow it. UK authorities want to try Andrei Lugovoi for murder. Lugovoi met with Litvinenko the day he got sick, and Polonium-210 was found in other places Lugovoi visited.
RUSSIA Russia test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile May 29 that can carry up to 10 warheads, the Interfax news agency reported. Each warhead can be independently targeted, making it harder for missile-defense systems to intercept them. Russia has criticized the United States’ plans to build part of its missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

VICTIMS Media outlets identifying victims of certain crimes would be fined 100,000 Kč ($4757) under a planned legal amendment, a Justice Ministry spokeswoman said May 27. The proposal is a reaction to a recent child-abuse case in which the identity and photos of a 7-year-old victim were widely published. The law could come into effect by next year.

DUPED The same case has taken another bizarre twist after police confirmed May 28 that the person originally believed to be the victim’s 13-year-old adopted sister Anna is actually 34-year-old Barbora Škrlová, an acquaintance of the victim’s mother. DNA testing proved the woman’s identity, Mladá fronta Dnes reported May 29. The daily alleges that a religious cult prompted the women’s actions.
EXPERTS Highly qualified foreign workers who are experts in their field may be eligible for permanent residency after only 18 months, according to a government plan that could take effect this summer, ČTK reported May 28. Currently, the fast track to permanent residency takes 30 months.
CONFIDENCE Opposition leader and Social Democratic Party Chairman Jiří Paroubek said May 28 he would call a vote of confidence if Deputy Prime Minister Jiří Čunek is indicted for corruption. Police have been investigating Čunek, also regional development minister, since January on allegations of accepting a 500,000 Kč bribe in 2002. Čunek has refused to resign.
EVEREST Prague Mayor Pavel Bém said on his return to Prague May 28 that he’s ready to get back to work for the city. Bém left in March for a two-month leave of absence to climb Mt. Everest. He reached the summit May 18.
AIRPORT A Scandinavian Airlines plane en route from Denmark to Greece made an emergency landing at Prague Ruzyně Airport May 27 after passengers smelled smoke, an airport spokeswoman told ČTK. There was no fire onboard and a technical defect likely created the smell, ČTK reported.
SWEDEN Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra and his Swedish counterpart, Cecilia Malmström, met in Prague May 28 and agreed that their respective countries have similar visions for their upcoming European Union presidencies, ČTK reported. EU enlargement, trade liberalization and budget reform are among the priorities. The Czech Republic will hold the six-month rotating presidency for the first half of 2009, while Sweden will hold it for the second half.
ACQUIT The choirmaster of the Bambini di Praga children’s choir was acquitted May 28 on charges of sexually abusing two underage girls in his choir, ČTK reported. Bohumil Kulínský still faces charges of abusing 47 other girls between 1984 and 2004. The regional court judge in Hradec Kralové, east Bohemia, said there was not enough evidence against Kulínský in this case.

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