CCCCC AA RRRRR OOOO LL II NN N AA CC AA A RR R OO O LL II NNN N AA A CC AA A RRRRR OO O LL II NN N N AA A CC AAAAAA RR R OO O LL II NN NN AAAAAA CCCCC AA A RR R OOOO LLLLLL II NN N AA A STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECH REPUBLIC School of Social Sciences of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic E-mail address: carolina@n.fsv.cuni.cz Fax: (+422) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 104, Friday, February 4, 1994. EVENTS OF THE LAST WEEK (JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 2) Czech Politics in World- Wide Economical Forum Premier Vaclav Klaus, Minister of Economy Karel Dyba, and Minister of Industry and Trade Vladimir Dlouhy returned February 1 from a six-day trip to the World Economical Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Since January 27, politicians were dealing with bilateral economical problems. Dlouhy said the Czech Republic was named as "country over water" because it' s a country that has managed to lay the foundations of a trade economy and now faces political and economical problems just like other European country. No one questioned the pace of rising foreign capital in the the Czech Republic, he said. For those reasons, the admission of foreign investors in the Czech Republic won't be accelerated or retarded, Klaus said. Klaus also spoke about the anticipated change to full convertability of the Czech crown, saying he doesn't want to consider this as a political question and that many world- known specialists had advised against hurrying. Finland's Minister Visits the Czech Republic Finland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heikki Haavisto, visited the Czech Republic for two days this week. He met with his Czech colleague Josef Zieleniec and spoke only about mutual affairs of the countries and European matters, he said at a press conference in Cernin Palace. "We are trying to conclude the process of us becoming a member of the European union (EU). I think that as a member of the EU we will be able to work on reinforcing safety structures. On the other hand we don't wish to become members of NATO," Haavisto said. Because Czech-Finnish affairs are still under discussion, Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and Zieleniec are going to visit Haavisto in Finland. Delegates of the Finnish Parliament plan in the future visit the Czech Republic. Conflicts Roil Around Minister of Justice The Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted (VONS) is demanding the resignation of Justice Minister Jiri Novak. Council representatives demanded the resignation because not enough judges have been purged from the courts, which before 1989 sentenced political prisoners. VONS feels that the justice system, state agencies and prisons haven't changed much in the past four years, representatives said, claiming that the corruption of the former regime still casts a shadow. But Novak sees no reason to resign, he said. He believes that VONS's reservations regard eight judges, who were not named by the Czech parliament until 1992. Novak said the parliamentarians' decision should not be changed. Of the 1,906 current judges, half never served in the former regime, Novak said. More than three-forths of Justice Ministry employees left their jobs following the change in regime, and 14 percent of workers stayed at the former office of the General Director for the Commitee of Corrections. Novak claims to have effected the same changes at the state agency within a few days. Many political parties joined Novak in rejecting the demands of the council. VONS was formed in 1978 and now President Vaclav Havel was a member. Novak's Citizens Democratic Party gave their minister full support. Opposition communist and social democratic parties condemned VONS's demands as being absurd. American Bank Wants to Guarantee Loan for Temelin The American Import-Export Bank board of directors decided January 27, to back a loan for the completion of Temelin, a nuclear power plant under construction in southern Bohemia. Within the month the U.S. Congress must approve the decision. Austria, which opposes construction of the plant, requested that Congress turn down the proposal. Austria will again offer a proposal to reconstruct the nuclear plant so that it runs on conventional fossil fuels. Four Hundred Czech Crowns for a Ride on Highway Owners of automobiles and motor vehicles could pay 400 Czech crowns for using highways and roads in the Czech Republic. For an automobile weighing 3.5 to 12 tons, the price will be 1,000 crowns, for a heavier vehicle, 2,000 crowns. An owner of a vehicle using only provincial highways or roads will not pay anything. But using a highway without authorization would be subject to fines. This amendment to the road law was discussed February 2 by the governmental legislative counsel. Jan Kalvoda, head of the government's legislative counsel, said that according to the proposals, taxes would also apply to foreigners. Gerd Albrecht Rejects Concert in Vatican According to President Vaclav Havel, the rejection a concert in Vatican for logistical reasons by the Czech Philharmonic harms the Czech Republic and the orchestra's interest. The Czech Filharmonie was invited to play at the Vatican on February 7, for a ceremony of mutual recognition of Israel and the Vatican and also in honor of monuments destroyed by Holocaust. Anti-semitic Magazine's Head Editor Sentenced The chief editor of the anti-semitic magazine "Political Weekly" has been sentenced to an year of prison. The Prague 1 District Court gave Josef Tomas a conditional deferment of five years, and forbade his publishing for three years. The verdict was carried out in the form of a penal order, without a full trial. According to an amendment in the penal code, this method may be used when there is no doubt about a person's guilt. The case will be looked into further, because Josef Tomas has appealed the penal order. Information about the magazine and a movement of similar intent was carried in Carolina, issue 97. Czech UNPROFOR Soldiers Convicted of Smuggling Military Material The Austrian mountain police stopped three members of the Czech contingent unit UNPROFOR on the Czech-Austrian border January 26. The soldiers, returning from service with UN forces in the former Yugoslavia, were originally convicted of illegally transporting six grenades and one pistol. According to the Czech Military Police statement, however, the soldiers were carrying a captured Mauser gun, with 10 cartridges, one defunct grenade, one sharp anti-aircraft cartridge, and six other sub machine-gun cartridges. Although the soldiers claimed to be taking the weapons and ammunition home as souvenirs, the Austrian police have not excluded the possibility that they may have been marked for black-market sale. Austrian authorities used an anti-terrorist commando unit at the border crossing Wullowitz-Dolni Dvoriste to stop two buses filled with Czech soldiers. From the 70 on board, 67 were let through. An Austrian-TV crew was waiting along with the police units. This suggests a previously prepared action, said Czech Defense Minister Antonin Baudys. Baudys criticized the handling of the Czech soldiers were handled, saying "They aimed submachine-guns at them, and treated them like terrorists or criminals, and that bothers me." However, the case will not harm the very good relations between the Czech Republic and Austria, Baudys said. Tug of War Over Dean When the Academic Senate of Masaryk University's Law Faculty in Brno elected Docent Jiri Kroupa as Dean at the end of last year, they had no idea what kind of scandal they would provoke -- nor that he would quickly resign. His resignation Tuesday came after demands that he testify about possible collaboration with the secret police under the communist regime. Deputy Minister of Education Ivan Pilip announced in January that Kroupa's name had been printed several times in the press on lists of former secret police agents. Pilip warned the school administration that the dean hadn't turned in the neccesary testimony concerning his past activities under the Czech lustration law. The law required state officials to obtain certificates that they were uninvolved in certain communist and secret police activities. Pilip threatened to cut state grants for schools. The case got a lot of publicity, with representatives of the Confederation of Political Prisoners claiming Kroupa's appointment was scandalous. Kroupa refused to resign, and denied that he had worked with the secret police. Kroupa said he hadn't requested the lustration verification, which could show his guilt or innocence, because he opposes the lustration law. Under pressure of the ministry and press, the Academic Senate voted in a secret ballot Monday to abide by the conditions of the lustration law, and demand Kroupa's testimony from the Ministry of the Interior. The vote was a reversal from a week earlier, when they said they didn't want to request the testimony. Kroupa resigned the next day. WEATHER This week was ruled by cold wind, rains and snow. The sun didn't appear. On January 28, winds reached 130Km/h, which tore out many trees. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. 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