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 STUDENT'S E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA Faculty of Social Science of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz tel: (+42 2) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+42 2) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 151, Friday, March 17, 1995. EVENTS FOR THE WEEK MARCH 8-15 Vaclav Klaus in Copenhagen for U.N. Conference The United Nations World Conference on Social Development took place last Friday through Sunday in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. With more than 120 heads of state and governments in attendance it was the biggest ever conference of its kind. Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, who received the Adam Smith prize at the conference, spoke to delegates about the prerequisites for social development. According to Klaus, a change in social conditions is impossible without interference in other areas of society and the improvement of people's lives depends on political and economic freedom. At the end of his speech, the Czech prime minister said that he considered external aid for improving the situation in individual states a marginal issue and condemned the export of ideologies and lifestyles to developing countries. In an interview with Czech journalists, Klaus reacted to the Austrian and Danish governments' decision to forgive debts owed them by poor countries, saying the Czech Republic could not afford such a gesture, as it is owed much more money by these countries than either Austria or Denmark. Martin Kupka/Martina Vojtechovska Report on Population in Czech Republic In its National Report for the World Conference on Social Development in Copenhagen, the Czech Republic stated that in 1993 the number of children under the age of 14 fell to less than 20 percent of the population for the first time. This means that Czech society is approaching the trends in population development seen in Europe's leading industrialized countries. In 1992 infant mortality dropped to less than 10 per 1,000 in the Czech Republic, with 9.9 infants out of 1,000 dying before the age of 1; in 1993 the figure was 8.5 per 1,000. Meanwhile the median lifespan increased in 1993 to 69.3 years for men and 76.4 years for women. From Lidove noviny by Eftychia Damianidou/M. Vojtechovska Constitutional Court Will Not Strike Down "Benes Decree" Rejecting the arguments of Rudolf Dreithaler, a Czech citizen of German ancestry who seeks to reclaim property confiscated from his parents after World War II, the Czech Constitutional Court confirmed on Wednesday, March 8, a decree "On the confiscation of enemy property and National Renewal Funds" issued by Czechoslovak President Edvard Benes in 1945. Although Dreithaler's lawyer attempted to call into question the legality of the act by pointing out that Benes had abdicated the presidency in 1939, the Court confirmed the 1942 decision of the London-based Czechoslovak government-in-exile, who accepted Benes as the elected president. Benes was similarly accepted by the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union, as well as 24 other countries. After the war the Czechoslovak government-in-exile decided that presidential decrees would substitute for legislation until a new parliament was elected. The Constitutional Court also rejected the argument that the decree (no. 108/45) was directed against Germans and Hungarians, saying that in fact it was directed against the enemies of Czech democratic institutions and therefore could not be in contradiction with the current Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms or other similar acts. Lukas Zentel/J. Chvojka Politicians React to Constitutional Court Verdict Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus, head of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), said the government had taken note of the Court's decision and that he personally welcomed it. Parliament Vice Chair Karel Ledvinka of the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) said the verdict was a decisive step in the direction of putting an end to the uncertainty in Czech-German relations and said he assumed the decision would be favorably received internationally as well. Milan Uhde (ODS), chair of Parliament, expressed "both general and personal satisfaction" with the decision. And the Social Democrats and the Communists, both opposition parties, voiced agreement with the verdict too. However, the leaders of the Sudeten German Association in Munich took a different view, declaring the Court's decision "clearly discriminatory and nationalist." They said they had been expecting this result and that they had doubts about the independence of the Czech judicial system. Walter Piverka, president of the Association of Germans in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, called the verdict a political one, and said it replaced the concept of collective guilt with that of mass responsibility. Vera Vitkova/J. Chvojka Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs in Central Asia Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec took a seven-day trip, March 5 to 11, through four Central Asian republics, visiting Turkmenistan, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. On his return home, Zieleniec pointed out the enormous economic potential of these countries and the opportunities their markets offer to Czech industry and business. Among the highlights of his trip the foreign minister listed an agreement with the president of Uzbekistan on trade in cotton and, in talks with the Kazakh president, the negotiation of the use of Czech government credits to support the export of Czech goods to Kazakhstan. In every republic he visited Zieleniec was received by the president. The most important diplomatic act that took place was the opening of a Czech embassy in the Kazakh capital of Alma-Ata. On the whole the minister described the tour as a success, especially in the "opening new channels of payment vis-a-vis the Czech Republic." Accompanying Zieleniec on his trip was a delegation of Czech businesspeople and leaders of industry. The minister's planned meeting with the Czech minority in a village in Kazakhstan (see last issue of Carolina) failed to take place due to a problem with the government plane. Zieleniec said he was considering another visit there at a later date. Michal Vynohradnyk/M. Vojtechovska Havel Delivers State of the Union Address President Vaclav Havel delivered his third speech to Czech Parliament on Tuesday, covering all areas of society and politics and calling on legislators to deal with the problems he sees. Now that Czechs have laid the foundations for the renewal of democratic institutions, according to Havel, it is important not to ignore the rise in racism, anti-Semitism and other signs of contempt for human rights. The president appealed to the parliamentarians to reconsider his proposal to create the institution of ombudsman to consider cases of possible human rights violations. Repeatedly Havel called on the deputies to form a Senate, as called for in the constitution they adopted in 1992, and to make reforms in regional administration, which is also in the constitution and which has been the subject of debate for several years now. Further, the president warned against political parties extending into branches of state administration, and to counter this he proposed the creation of a special fund that would ensure public oversight of party financing. Havel said he thought the transformation of the educational system could be going better and called for new thinking in the areas of health service, the environment and housing policy. He also mentioned briefly poor relations between government and opposition parties as well as malice within parties of the ruling coalition. After the speech both Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and Parliament Chairman Milan Uhde declined to voice their opinions, though according to sources at the daily "Lidove noviny" Klaus said the speech was directed at the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), which he chairs. Most members of the government coalition considered the president's speech critical, and their initial responses were hesitant and ambiguous. The portions of Havel's speech concerning education, health service and housing policy were received warmly by the opposition, though they did not agree with the president on the Senate and the financing of political parties. Jiri Schneider/M. Vojtechovska Government Approves Proposal for Trademark Legislation The government approved the wording of a proposed new law on trademarks at the Wednesday, March 8, Cabinet session. This legislation, which should take effect in June, would protect well-known firms from illegal use of their trademarks, specifically preventing Czech companies from registering the trademark of a world-famous company in this country. Economics Minister Karel Dyba said the law was needed to protect trademarks as a sign of quality and to ensure that no one would be able to profit from the investment of others. Another part of the bill would provide for free trade in trademarks, abolishing the requirement for state approval. From Mlada fronta Dnes by Martina Vojtechovska/J. Chvojka Ceska Zbrojovka Director Found Dead During Weapons Fair Miroslav Duda, general director of the Ceska Zbrojovka weapons manufacturer in Uhersky Brod, died Sunday morning at the IWA 95 hunting and sport weapons fair in Nuremberg, after falling out a window. The report was confirmed for Carolina by the CZ business manager at the fair, who asked not to be named. "Mister Duda fell out of a window. Apparently in a momentary lapse due to a sudden case of physical indisposition," the CZ official said. He ruled out the possibility of suicide, saying there was "no rational reason for it." According to the Nuremberg Police Presidium's spokesman, Peter Groesch, Duda came back to the Tiergarten Hotel in Nuremberg from a business meeting at about 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 12, and left his colleagues at about 2:30 saying he was going to sleep. At 4:00 a.m. one of the hotel's employees saw Duda fall from the window and immediately notified the managers. "The hotel employees were at Duda's hotel room door almost instantly. No one could have left the room after Duda's death. The door was locked and the key was found inside. We therefore rule out the possibility that a third person was responsible for his fall," said Grosch. Groesch told Carolina the German police had not yet received detailed results from the autopsy. "The information we have obtained so far reveals that the alcohol level in his blood was negligible. We therefore tend toward the version that it was an unfortunate accident," he said. Workers interviewed on Sunday at the CZ factory said director Duda was a "tough guy" and that he was not the kind of person who would take his own life. But according to a report on the incident by TV Nova, "physical indisposition" could be ruled out as an explanation for the death because Duda had to move a table with a television and a telephone on it in order to open the window wide enough to fit through. Conclusive results of the autopsy and lab tests will be made known in two or three days. Jiri Chvojka/J. Chvojka Radio Free Europe Starts Broadcasts From Prague Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, the U.S. radio stations founded during the Cold War to inform the people of Communist Europe, began regular transmission from new studios in the former Federal Assembly building in Prague on Friday, March 10. According to Jan Obrman, head of public relations for RFE/RL, the Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Russian and Serbo-Croatian editors broadcast their first shows on Friday afternoon. On June 10 RFE/RL is scheduled to start broadcasts by all 19 editors in 21 languages to Central and Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union. At the same time the two stations will end operations at their present base in Munich. For economic reasons, in 1994 the U.S. Congress decided to move the stations to Prague, where they will pay a token rent of 1 Kc per day plus the costs of operating the building, estimated at roughly 80 million Kc annually. From Lidove noviny by Shah Muhammad/Eftychia Damianidou Branik Rockers Charged with Promoting Racism Members of the punk-rock group Branik were brought to court this week for songs advocating attacks on Romanies (Gypsies), Vietnamese and black people that appeared on the album "Branik Power" in 1991. The group has disbanded since then. This marks the first time in this country that anyone has been tried for song lyrics promoting violence and racism. If found guilty, the six members of the band face up to eight years in prison. The record's producer, also one of the owners of the company that released the album and the owner of the studio where the album was recorded, is being tried along with the band. In 1993 (see Carolina nos. 97, 98) police investigated the band for song lyrics (rhymed in Czech) such as "Your mission is sacred, you bastard, you're gonna beat those niggers, gypsies and yellows, don't let them live in peace," and "A nigger stands in the side streets, colored hair, getting people riled up, poisoning the air, we're the ones who feed 'em, yeah like we really need 'em. Pour gasoline all over them and torch 'em." But the case was closed after several months when the police came to the conclusion that the band had not broken any laws. It was not until later, when the case awoke the attention of the media, that the state prosecutor ordered the prosecution reopened. The members of Branik defended themselves before the judge saying that they cared more about the music than the lyrics and that they were given the lyrics by friends of theirs. Lead singer Jan Stepanek said the band had such bad equipment that it was impossible to understand their lyrics at concerts. When questioned directly about the verses about beating up "niggers, gypsies and yellows," he said they were exaggerated in order to capture the feeling of a particular situation. Despite the high attendance of skinheads at their concerts, Stepanek said that Branik did not support the skinhead movement. According to him, the musicians were in it for the money and had no particular attachment to the lyrics. The court postponed proceedings until April when the other three people involved in releasing the record will be questioned. Jindrich Jirasek/Eftychia Damianidou BUSINESS/ECONOMICS Czechs Want Out of Payment Agreement With Slovakia The Czech Ministry of Finance has refused to comment on reports that the Czech Republic is going to pull out of its payment agreement with Slovakia on April 1, according to the Czech daily "Mlada fronta Dnes." According to the terms of the agreement, the Czechs' withdrawal would then take effect officially as of July 1. After that, trade between the two countries would be conducted in Czech crowns (Kc), which is expected to be fully convertible by July. This arrangement should not deplete the hard currency reserves of either state thanks to new legislation allowing both Czech citizens and companies to use Czech crowns in their transactions. Since Czechoslovakia split into two countries on Jan. 1, 1993, the Czechs have been dissatisfied with their trade relations with Slovakia, based on a clearing system that allows money transfers without the use of freely convertible currencies. Czech exporters lose money under this system because the Czech crown is devalued by 5 percent in the conversion to the ECU used in this payment regime. Jakub Knezu/Andrea Snyder Ministry Says "Stop" to Work Booklets Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Jindrich Vodicka this week rejected proposals made by entrepreneurs and unions to re-introduce work booklets (see Carolina no. 150). Vodicka said the employee evaluation, which would be an obligatory part of the booklets according to current proposals, ran counter to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which protects individuals from the unauthorized gathering of personal information. Petr Hosek/Andrea Snyder CULTURE Most Popular TV Personalities Announced On March 11 the awards ceremony, sponsored by "Television Weekly" magazine, was held at Prague's Music Theater in Karlin. Nearly 90,000 TV viewers cast votes in the fifth annual TyTy survey to determine the favorite faces and programs on state-run Czech TV and TV Nova, the private channel. Winners in this year's prestigious TyTy awards were Saskia Buresova of Czech TV for favorite program announcer and Martin Severa of Nova for favorite newscaster, while Premysl Podlaha, famous for his gardening and handyman show, for the second time in a row took home the prize for favorite talkshow moderator. Peter Vichnar won the balloting for most popular sports announcer, Lucie Bila was voted favorite female TV singer, and the ever-popular Karel Gott for the fifth time walked away as most popular male TV singer with 24,000 votes, the most given to any personality in the poll. Favorite entertainer went to Jan Rosak from Czech TV's "Videostop" and TV Nova's "Television Bingo." Jirina Bohdalova won again as most popular actress and Petr Zednicek of the gameshow "Suitcase" was voted most popular actor, while "Suitcase" itself took home the prize as most popular show. This year also saw the introduction of a new category, "The Television Hall of Fame," awarded by a jury to director Frantisek Filip, who has shot more than 5OO titles for the TV screen. From Lidove noviny by Andrea Rihova/Andrea Snyder Voice of Michal Tucny Falls Silent Michal Tucny, one of the leading figures in Czech country music, died Friday at the age of 48 from a long-term illness. In the course of his career he recorded more than 20 albums and compilations and sold more than a million records. Tucny began his career playing Dixieland on a banjo, then drummed for a rock group called The Makers. In the early 1970s he began to play with The Greenhorns, recording such favorites as "Red River" and "El Paso." Later in the decade, he also played with Fesaci (The Dudes). The high point of his career, though, was the founding of his own group, Tucnaci (The Fatties). It was with them that he recorded his most popular songs, "The Last Cowboy," "Breakfast in the Grass" and "Wonderful Woman." In the last three years of his life, Tucny served as host for the Ceske Budejovice group Weekend and worked at a radio station introducing music shows. Karolina Polakova/Andrea Snyder Tom Cruise Filming in Prague After flying into Prague on his private plane March 8, American movie star Tom Cruise took part in a benefit premiere "Interview with a Vampire," then began work March 13 on the film version of "Mission Impossible," directed by Brian DePalma. The U.S./British/Czech film crew took over several locations in downtown Prague this week. Huge tents have gone up next to the National Museum, where the first few minutes of the film will be shot, and a whole battery of strong reflectors are clustered around the medieval Charles Bridge. Kampa Island, a historical, picturesque part of Prague, will be taken over by tents March 21-31, where much of the shooting will take place at night. After an unsuccessful search for a large villa to rent, Cruise finally decided to make the Hotel Praha his home during his four-day stay in Prague. Prior to 1989, the hotel was reserved for Communist dignitaries. Jakub Knezu/Andrea Snyder SPORTS Sparta Praha Tries to Catch Slavia in Soccer League Before a sell-out crowd last week, Hradec Kralove played to a scoreless draw with first-place Slavia Praha. Second-place Sparta Praha took advantage of this to defeat Sigma Olomouc, cutting Slavia's lead to five points. Round no. 18 brought surprises in the form of a successful debut for new Bohemians Praha coach Svatopluk Bouska, as well as a victory for Drnovice at Banik Ostrava's home field and a loss for Viktoria Zizkov at Ceske Budejovice. Viktoria has yet to pick up a single point in the spring season, losing three times to teams from the bottom half of the standings. This has raised doubts about the job security of Viktoria coach Jiri Kotrba. Round 18 results: Hradec Kralove-Slavia Praha 0:0, Sparta Praha-Sigma Olomouc 2:0, Bohemians Praha-Union Cheb 2:1, Banik Ostrava-Petra Drnovice 1:3, Ceske Budejovice-Viktoria Zizkov 1:0, Svit Zlin-Slovan Liberec 2:1, Boby Brno-Viktoria Plzen 2:0, FK Jablonec-Svarc Benesov 2:0. Rudolf Cernik/J. Chvojka Hockey Extra-league Moves on to Semifinals The Czech ice hockey Extra-league now moves into the semifinal round, with Kladno, which beat Slavia in three matches, Vsetin after four matches against Litvinov, along with Zlin and Ceske Budejovice. Rudolf Cernik/J. Chvojka Results of Last Week's Playoffs Slavia Praha-Kladno 2:3, Plzen-Zlin 3:4, Ceske Budejovice-Olomouc 5:3, Litvinov-Vsetin 6:3,1:5 9th-12th place: Pardubice-Sparta Praha 4:1, Vitkovice-Jihlava 6:4, Jihlava-Sparta Praha 4:4, Pardubice-Jihlava 5:5. Tomas Kopecny/Andrea Snyder Good Showing for Czech Athletes at Indoor Championships Czech athletes took home three medals from the indoor championships in Barcelona. Dvorak won a silver in the septathlon. Kostovalova, Dziurova, Benesova and Formanova took second place in the 4x400m relay. Souku battled through to take the bronze in the 800m dash, which was the surprise of this year's indoor season. Triple jumper Kasparkova did well with fourth place, while Gombala took sixth in the long jump. Rudolf Cernik/Andrea Snyder Radka Kovarikova and Rene Novotny World Champions The Czech skating pair Radka Kovarikova and Rene Novotny won the title of world champions in Birmingham in the category of sporting couple. Tomas Kopecny/Andrea Snyder WEATHER The nearly springtime weather peaked on Sunday with an unbelievable (for March) 18 degrees Celsius. But the situation changed Tuesday, as winter made an attempt at a comeback, and the blooming violets, crocuses and lilies of the valley found themselves under snow, which held out until Wednesday. The snowy surprise brought with it cold wind and changes in the temperature, which is now hovering around zero. 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