News from Czech Republic 12.07.2012

CR: PM calls Parkanová immunity vote the only logical step

Prime Minister Nečas called the decision on Wednesday by fellow MPs to strip former defence minister Vlasta Parkanová of her immunity, opening the way for prosecution, the only “logical step”. He also called on all organs investigating Parkanová, who is suspected of abuse of public office and breach of trust in connection with a questionable 3.5 billion crown purchase of CASA military transport planes while she served as defence minister in 2009, to carry out their duties effectively and in an impartial manner. But the PM also expressed concern at the police service with regards to their investigation of Parkanová, saying that their methodology has left many unanswered questions. The motion was supported by 117 of the 176 MPs present with 45 against; The PM was among those who voted for the motion. Ms Parkanová has denied any wrongdoing. Since 1993, 18 MPs have been stripped of immunity at the 

Tram service resumes after Evropská Street crater incident

Tram services have resumed along Prague’s Evropská Street following an incident last Sunday in which part of the carriageway collapsed creating a several metre wide crater. Presently, the resumed tram service will skip the station Hořoměřická closest to the site of the incident, while a nearby bus station has been temporarily relocated. Initial speculation on the cause of the cave-in focused on work to extend the A line of the Prague metro towards the city’s main airport. However, experts soon dismissed this theory, instead speculating that recent strong rains had exposed caverns underneath the street. Road traffic is set to resume along Evropská on Friday around noon according to local authorities.

New justice minister set for meeting with prosecutor Bradáčová

The new Czech justice minister Pavel Blažek is set to meet on Thursday with prosecutor Lenka Bradáčová, the official recommendee of Supreme State Attorney Pavel Zeman for the post of head of the Prague's high state attorney's office. Zeman proposed her appointment in June, but the then justice minister Jiří Pospíšil, was dismissed by the PM before he managed to install her to the post. Critics alleged that Bradáčová’s record as a fearless anti-corruption investigator had led to the dismissal. All eyes are now on Pospíšil’s successor, who met Monday with Pavel Zeman, has indicated that he favours Bradáčová for the post, but added that he wishes to have an in-person meeting before making a final decision.

Former Regional Operational Programme head sentenced to 7.5 years

Petra Kušnierz, the former head of the North-West Regional Operational Programme (ROP) was jailed for seven and a half years on Thursday by a court in the city of Ústí nad Labem. In addition to the sentence, Kušnierz was also fined a quarter of a million crowns for corruption. Specifically, the ROP head was charged with seeking bribes of at least 1.7 million crowns per EU grant applicant. Three accomplices of Kušnierz as well as three grant applicants were also found guilty of wrongdoing. The entire case began with a March 2011 raid on the ROP premises by the country’s Organized Crime Detection Unit.

Forty-year-old man arrested in Ostrava for multiple canal manhole cover thefts

A forty-year-old man has been arrested in the city of Ostrava for the alleged theft of at least sixteen manhole covers between May and June. The estimated cost to the city of the thefts is around 53,000 crowns, according to local police. The man, who has not been publicly identified, was apparently caught with three manhole covers in his car following police surveillance. According to the police, the man would break down the metal covers before selling them for scrap.

American Appraisal stands by CASA report

The company American Appraisal is standing by a report in which it states that the Defence Ministry paid too much for CASA transport planes in 2009. The company drew up the report at the request of the police and found that the state incurred damages of 658 million crowns from the sale, which is now at the centre of the investigation involving former defence minister Vlasta Parkanová. The company says its analyses and conclusions were fully documented and substantiated. Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek has been prominent in challenging the expert assessment and has attacked the firm's credibility, saying it had "American" in its name, but was headed by a purely Czech former member of the Communist secret police.

Lower house opens fourth round of debate on church restitution

The lower house of Parliament has started another round of approval for the government’s church restitution plan. Culture Minister Alena Hanáková responded to some of the points of criticism from the previous three rounds of debate, noting among other things that the Constitutional Court had confirmed the churches’ right of ownership to the properties in question. The last vote on the issue failed due to procrastination tactics employed by the opposition parties. Under the draft legislation, the Czech state would return some 56% of the physical property worth around 75 billion crowns; for the rest, Czech churches and religious societies would receive some 60 billion crowns in compensation over a period of 30 years.

Inflation rate higher than expected

Czechs can buy increasingly less goods and services for their wages. The Czech Statistical Office reports that inflation grew by 0.3% to 3.5% in June with a particular rise in the price of foodstuffs and tobacco. Analysts had expected 3.4%. Prices of vegetables rose by 18.5%, fruit by 10.4%, and eggs by 60.7%. Electricity and water prices were up by 4.2 and 12.0%, respectively. On the other hand, clothing, household appliances and home and garden tools all fell by 3.4 to 6.6%.

Unemployment dropped slightly in June

Unemployment in the Czech Republic fell slightly in June, down 0.1 of a point to 8.1%. Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs said Wednesday that employment offices had registered 7.5 thousand less job seekers compared to the previous month, but the number of vacancies dropped by 2%. There were nearly 43,000 vacancies, which is more than 4,000 compared to the previous year but 886 less than in the preceding month. There were an average 11.1 job seekers per vacancy in June. Analysts had expected the jobless rate to stay unchanged at May´s 8.2 percent.

Bill modifying work of Supreme Court passed

The lower house on Wednesday also supported an amendment to the code of civil justice that will limit appeals made to the Supreme Court. The legislation would make appeals possible only in cases of fundamental legal significance. Justice Minister Pavel Blažek has criticised the current practice, saying the Supreme Court is overburdened. The ministry has also proposed giving the Supreme Court the authority to change the verdicts of appeals and first-instance courts.

Franciscan monks’ remains exhumed ahead of beatification

Anthropologists and theologians are exhuming the remains of more than a dozen Franciscan monks who were killed in the early 17th century. The international group of monks are to be beatified 401 years after their deaths for their role in defending Catholicism in Protestant Prague. Experts will be studying the condition of their remains before removing specimens to be deposited in reliquaries in St. Vitus Cathedral and the Church of Our Lady of the Snows. The 14 men were killed by mercenaries of the Archduke of Austria, Leopold V, in 1611. The beatification ceremony, which has been in preparation for more than 300 years, should take place on October 13 in St. Vitus Cathedral.

Education Ministry fined for publication of sensitive data

The Education Ministry has been fined roughly half a million crowns form its publication of sensitive data on Roma scholarship recipients last year. The names, dates of birth and addresses of nearly 900 Roma students went up on the ministry’s website in November, alongside 181 schools who received 4.4 million for the students. The Office for the Protection of Personal Information handed down a 450,000 fine. Then-minister Josef Dobeš fired an official over the incident and filed a lawsuit.

Police investigating activist Šinágl for denying Nazi war crimes

Police are investigating anti-communist activist Jan Šinágl for denying Nazi war crimes, a crime that carries a sentence of up to three years in prison. The charges relate to two articles that Mr Šinágl posted on his website last year in which he writes, among other things, that the assassination of leading Nazi Reinhard Heydrich was carried out against the will of the Czech resistance and that hundreds or even thousands of people had informed on the assassins. He also wrote that the number of people who lost their lives under Heydrich’s government was only a fraction of those killed in post-war atrocities and under Communist rule. The author himself says he only wanted to point out crime committed by Czechs themselves, which are often overlooked or trivialised.

Storm damages reaching 500 million crowns

Damages reported to insurance companies from July’s storms are continuing to grow, and are reaching half a billion crowns. Windstorms, flooding, lightening and hail over the last two weeks have done particular damage to roofs and automobiles and have caused fires. The insurance company Česká pojišťovna has registered 4429 claims worth 190 million crowns, Kooperativa 2200 claims worth 115 million.

Weather

Partially cloudy weather will give way to some showers later in the day. Temperatures will be a relatively refreshing 20 degrees Celsius on average, with cooler weather to the west of the country as low as 16 degrees Celsius.