Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Thursday, July 29th, 2010
By: Jan Velinger
* A Swiss official have said that the extradition of fugitive Czech
businessman Tomas Pitr could take up to one year.
* The justice minister has revealed that he will dismiss the head of
the Czech prison service.
* Prague's place on UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites is reportedly
not at risk.
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Pitr extradition could take up to one year
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A Swiss official has said that the extradition of a fugitive Czech
businessman, Tomas Pitr, sentenced to five years for tax fraud and
mismanagement of property in the Czech Republic, could take up to a
year. A spokesman for the Swiss Justice Ministry made the statement on
Thursday, a day after the Czech was taken into custody in St Moritz. Mr
Pitr had been in hiding since 2007, when he failed to begin his jail
sentence. Earlier this year, the 39-year-old received an additional
six-year sentence in absentia for fraud and mismanagement of property
that caused damage exceeding 700 million crowns to a number of
state-controlled companies. Switzerland has called on Czech authorities
to provide an official request for Pitr's extradition and the Czech
Justice Ministry is expected to do so on Thursday. Justice Minister
Jiri Pospisil, meanwhile, said he believed there was a fifty/fifty
chance extradition would be successful.
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Justice Minister announces dismissal of head of prison service...
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In related news, the justice minister has told reporters he will
dismiss the head of the Czech Prison Service, Ludek Kula, as well as
introduce a comprehensive audit and reform the Czech prison system. He
made the comments on Thursday also saying that 40 percent of employees
in the Prison Service's General Directorate would be let go. The
current head Ludek Kula, will be replaced by Jiri Tregler, the director
of a prison in Pardubice, east Bohemia, in the interim.
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...and says he will cancel tender on prisoner surveillance system
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Also on Thursday, the new justice minister revealed that he was
cancelling a tender on an electronic surveillance system monitoring
prisoners under house arrest. The minister indicated problems in the
current tender (above all that it would allow a data bank on prisoners'
information to be owned and held by a private company) were
unacceptable; he said only the state should have access to such
details. A new tender on the surveillance system could now be called by
the end of September.
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Czech Radio: Prague's place on World Heritage list not at risk
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Prague's place on UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites will not be
threatened despite questions hanging over the city's handling of
renovations to the historic Charles Bridge or over the construction and
impact of the new Blanka tunnel, Czech Radio reported. UNESCO
representatives visited the Czech capital back in January to look at
projects underway and to meet with local officials. A report based on
their findings, the spokesman for the Culture Ministry said,
recommended that Prague adopt clear rules overseeing the construction
of new high-rise buildings; inspectors in the report also expressed
regret that proper documentation and studies weren't conducted in
advance of renovation of the landmark Charles Bridge. However, Czech
Radio reported, there is no danger of Prague being struck off the list
of World Heritage sites. The World Heritage Committee has been meeting
in Brasilia since Sunday to review the status of current members as
well as to present new additions.
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Environment Ministry to earmark four billion crowns to improve air
quality in Moravia-Silesia
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The Environment Ministry will earmark four billion crowns from the EU
subsidies for the improvement of air quality in the Moravian-Silesian
region, the Environment Minister Pavel Drobil said in Ostrava on
Thursday. Mr Drobil also said he and the Ostrava officials would like
to negotiate with major local polluters, namely local steel works and
others. The city of Ostrava has also proposed possible solutions -
measures, which would cost some 28 billion crowns which would tackle
all three sources of pollution: large companies, transport and heating
facilities. One of the largest polluters in the region, ArcelorMittal
Ostrava steel works, has already cooperated with the Environment
Ministry representatives, its CEO said, stressing that this year the
company has taken steps to lowering emissions. The industrial and
coal-mining area around Ostrava and Karvina is one of the most polluted
areas not only in the Czech Republic but also in Central Europe.
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Pravo: Kajinek case reopened
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The daily newspaper Pravo reports that police have reopened the case of
Jiri Kajinek, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998 for
murder. According to the paper, the police have already spent several
months investigating whether the 1993 murder of a businessman and his
bodyguard, for which Mr Kajinek was controversially sentenced, may have
been committed by police officers. The investigation is apparently
based on recorded conversations of the individual accused of actually
ordering the killings, which allegedly say nothing about Mr Kajinek but
rather attest to police involvement. Jiri Kajinek has always maintained
his innocence and gained a great deal of media attention when he
escaped from prison on two occasions.
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More than 300 Czech tourists left stranded at Brno, Burgas airports
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More than 300 Czech tourists were left stranded at airports in Brno and
Burgas, Bulgaria, when a return charter flight from the Czech Republic
failed to depart on Wednesday due to a technical fault. Around 100
spent the night at Burgas airport while others transferred to a hotel,
the spokesman for the Association of Czech Tour Operators and Agencies
Tomio Okamura said. Central Charter Airlines, the company in question,
commissioned two extra planes to deal with the situation. According to
EU regulations individual airlines - and not tour operators - carry
responsibility for flight delays and flight cancelation, Mr Okamura
said.
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Prague 32nd most expensive in rental of prime retail space
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The commercial real estate advisor CB Richard Ellis has revealed that
rented commercial or retail space in the Czech capital is the 32nd
highest in the world but still seven times cheaper, for example, than
in Manhattan. Boutique stores at prime locations in the city pay an
average of two thousand and forty euros per square metre per year (the
equivalent of around 50,000 crowns or 2,600 US dollars). By comparison,
the figure in New York is 13,744 euros. The most expensive streets to
rent on in the Czech capital include Na Prikope, Parizska and the lower
half of Wenceslas Square, CB Richard Ellis real estate expert Tomas
Beranek said. On the list of world rankings, New York, which finished
top, is followed by Sydney and Hong Kong. London ranked fourth.
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Pravo: Former foreign minister to return to politics
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Former foreign minister and member of European Parliament Josef
Zieleniec is reportedly planning a return to politics, the Czech
newspaper Pravo has claimed, although Mr Zieleniec himself has so far
denied any such move. According to the daily, Mr Zieleniec - who was
foreign minister from 1992 to 1997 and euro MP until last year - will
reportedly run for newcomers Public Affairs. Zieleniec is a former
member of the Civic Democratic Party who later ran for the European
Democrats in the country's first election to European Parliament after
the Czech Republic joined the EU in 2004. Public Affairs, meanwhile,
have not commented the story other than saying they will release new
information next week.
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Duo sentenced for murder of elderly woman
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The court in Usti nad Labem has sentenced two men to eight and
eight-and-a-half years behind bars for the murder of an elderly woman
last November. The duo - aged 18 and 17 - killed the 80-year-old woman
in her backyard as she brandished a machete to try and get them to
depart. She was hit and fatally wounded by one of the two who was
carrying a metal rod. Inside her home, the two stole 70 crowns (the
equivalent of around four US dollars), clothes pins, a bag, a knife
sharpener and a padlock. The two men can still appeal the court's
decision.
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Weather
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Conditions over the coming days are expected to be partly cloudy to
cloudy with scattered showers and daytime temperatures of around 20o
Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Panorama
Respected research institute to get major make-over, focus on brave new
projects
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The Research Institute of Fish Culture and Hydrobiology in Vodnany,
South Bohemia (a centre with a long and respected history and part of
the University of South Bohemia's Faculty of Fisheries and Protection
of Waters) will soon get a major make-over to the tune of 370 million
crowns. Roughly two-thirds - allowing the centre to renovate two
buildings and complete a new one - will come from European funds. Once
reconstruction is completed, the institute will be able to focus
vigorously on a series of important new research projects - including
rearing of the rare sterlet sturgeon.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130274
Current Affairs
Czech pavilion at Shanghai expo getting record attendance
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The Czech Republic's pavilion at the Expo2010 fair in Shanghai is
proving an enormous success. Attendance figures have surpassed
expectations and on Tuesday the pavilion welcomed its 4 millionth
visitor. Radio Prague asked the Czech pavilion's spokeman Jiri F.
Potuznik for the latest news from Shanghai.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130262
Current Affairs
'Kajinek' - gripping story of convicted killer who maintains his
innocence
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A new film hits the cinema screens next week about the Czech Republic's
most notorious prisoner - Jiri Kajinek. In 1998, Kajinek was sentenced
to life in prison for the gangland killings of a Plzen businessman and
one of his bodyguards, a crime he's always denied committing. His
daring escapes from several of the country's high security prisons -
and persistent doubts about the conviction - have made him something of
a popular hero among Czechs.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130261
Current Affairs
Fugitive Czech businessman Tomas Pitr arrested in Switzerland
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Swiss police have arrested the fugitive Czech businessman Tomas Pitr,
who in the Czech Republic faces 11 years in prison for tax evasion and
embezzlement. The multi-billionaire was on the run for more than three
years. Czech authorities believe that if extradited to the Czech
Republic, he could provide crucial information about the infiltration
by organized crime into state structures.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/130252
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