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 Faculty of Social Science of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz tel: (+4202) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+4202) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 277, Friday, February 20, 1998. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (February 11-18) DOMESTIC POLITICS Skalicky Departure Decision Next Week Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) Chairman, Environment Minister and Vice Prime Minister Jiri Skalicky offered to leave his posts because of his party's finance scandal. President Vaclav Havel asked Skalicky at a two-hour meeting in the hospital (see below for information on Havel's operation) to get to the bottom of the party's finances and withdraw his resignation for a week. The president gave Skalicky the week to clear up the affair around the campaign donations received from the TMC front company, which is based in the British Virgin Islands. Reports say the party knew of and supported the transactions carried out through the Caribbean with a promise of anonymity. ODA will also have to fight charges of tax evasion. Former ODA Vice Chairman Vladimir Dlouhy said at a press conference February 13 that TMC is a cover company for donations made by Philip Morris, the Vitkovice steelworks and the PPF holding. All of the companies, however, deny having donated money under a pseudonym. The origin of the 6 million crowns ODA received from TMC is still unclear, and the police are looking into ODA's finances. Opposition Social Democrat Stanislav Gross said there is not much of a chance to explain ODA sponsorship. He also said that Havel, who sharply criticized Vaclav Klaus' Civic Democratic Party (ODS) last year during its financial scandal, has a double standard. Gross said not only Skalicky, but all ODA ministers and Freedom Union ministers should leave the government. Freedom Union began as a faction of ODS. ODS leader Milan Kondr said that, in reality, the problem was the same one ODS had and had nothing to do with finances. Jaroslav Mares/Andrea Snyder Former ODS Vice Chairman Charged with Tax Evasion Libor Novak, the former Civic Democratic Party (ODS) vice chairman responsible for party finances, will stay in police custody indefinitely. Police charged him with tax evasion, and a Prague district judge issued a warrant to take him into custody for fear of possible influencing of witnesses by Novak or his fleeing the country. Novak had recently booked a trip with his family to the Dominican Republic at the Fischer travel agency and was going to leave the Czech Republic next week. According to Novak's lawyer Tomas Sokol, his client cannot be released on bail because the reasons for custody do not allow for bail. In the meantime the amount of taxes allegedly evaded have increased from 170,000 crowns (see Carolina 276) to about 500,000 crowns, which would increase Novak's possible jail time to eight years if convicted. Petr Bilek Jr./Milan Smid Social Democrats Publish Sponsors The British Westminster Foundation, The Swedish Olof Palme Foundation and the Dutch Alfred Mozer Foundation are among the sponsors of the Czech Social Democratic Party kept secret until February 16, when Social Democrat Chairman Milos Zeman revealed their identity. The British Embassy to the Czech Republic confirmed that the Westminster Foundation granted to Social Democrats the sum of 1,133,670 crowns before the 1996 general election. Westminster Foundation spokeswoman Alexandra Jones said the sum should have been used to assist in the education of Social Democrats for the pre-election campaign. More information is to be revealed at the Social Democrats' regular press conference February 20. Gabriela Pecic/Milan Smid Young Romany Woman Dies after Racially Motivated Attack Czech police are investigating another crime with a highly probable racial motive, after three young men (aged 23 to 24) attacked a 26-year-old Romany (Gypsy) woman in the northern Bohemia town of Vrchlabi. They beat their victim and pushed her into the Elbe (Labe) River, where she drowned around midnight February 15. The dead body was found after a two-day search. The Trutnov County investigator Vlastimil Svajdler said to the daily Lidove noviny: "According to some witnesses, the attackers are members of the skinhead movement, and their victim was attacked because of her race." Local Czech Radio correspondent Eliska Pilarova, 48, jumped into the river in an attempt to save the drowning Romany woman. However, the current was too strong, and Pilarova barely escaped with her life and is hospitalized with spinal injuries in the Vrchlabi Hospital. The investigator charged the attackers with the crime of intentionally causing injury to a person in conspiracy. There is still the possibility that the crime willl be requalified as murder. That was the opinion of the Czech Cabinet spokesman and Minister Vladimir Mlynar, who is responsible for the Romany issue in the government. Petr Bilek Jr./Milan Smid Havel Has Another Operation President Vaclav Havel underwent another operation at The Central Army Hospital in Prague February 18. It took surgeons 75 minutes to remove air from an area infected by a stitch unremoved after Havel's 1996 lung operation Havel had complained about respiratory difficulties before he was hospitalized with the virus February 12. According to his chief doctor Miroslav Cerbak, the president's temperature has stabilized and his health condition is satisfactory. Jana Ciglerova/Jana Ciglerova NEWS IN BRIEF * An amendment to the Penal Code and Misdemeanor Code was passed in the Chamber of Deputies February 13. The amendments will allow prosecution of those who keep drugs "in a quantity larger than small." It is this vague wording which has spurred much discussion among specialists. * The amendment to the Family Act is another law revision passed in Parliament. One of the most important changes makes divorce easier, in the case that both parties agree; on the other hand, it creates more difficulties for couples who do not agree, and creates support payments for the party who did not cause the divorce and who would suffer a significant decrease in living standard through the divorce. * For the first time since he resigned in October as finance minister and Civic Democratic Party (ODS) vice chairman, Josef Zieleniec appeared in public. It was on the February 15 TV NOVA program Debate (Debata). Immediately after the program ended, he escaped waiting journalists through a back door. In the program he said he does not intend to re-enter politics and that he would like to see the political parties the Freedom Union (a former ODS fraction) and the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) become closer. Jaroslav Mares/Veronika Machova FOREIGN AFFAIRS Polish Prime Minister Visits Czech Birthplace The Czech and Polish prime ministers Josef Tosovsky and Jerzy Buzek held their first meeting in the Polish town of Bielsko-Biala February 16. Speaking after the talks, Tosovsky said the two countries' good relations have not been interrupted by the changes of governments on both sides of the border. Discussions focused on a number of issues, including NATO expansion and European Union membership, as well as stepping up border cooperation. In connection with this, Tosovsky said the two sides would work more closely to coordinate efforts to prevent a repeat of the floods which seriously damaged both sides of the border last summer. After the talks, the two leaders travelled to the Czech town of Cesky Tesin, where there is a large Polish population and visited the house where Buzek was born in the village of Smilovice. Jana Ciglerova/Jana Ciglerova Sweden Welcomes NATO Expansion Sweden's Defense Minister Bjorn von Sydow paid a two-day visit to the Czech Republic starting February 17. After meeting with his Czech counterpart, Michal Lobkowicz, von Sydow said Sweden welcomes the expansion of NATO but does not wish to become a member. "We consider our security situation satisfactory enough that we will maintain our neutral status," said von Sydow. Petr Bilek Jr./Sofia Karakeva FROM SLOVAKIA Presidential Election Continues The candidacy of Slovak Premier Vladimir Meciar for the post of Slovak president is "maximally serious", but a definite decision will be made February 20, said Olga Keltosova, vice chairwoman of Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) after a meeting of party leadership. She also said that if Meciar becomes president he will not withdraw from his position as premier nor from the leadership of HZDS and will take part in the campaign for the upcoming general elections. For now it is not clear whether any candidate will manage to receive the required 90 votes in the National Assembly. It would mean not only support of coalition parties, who have 83 votes, but also of independent deputies and a part of the opposition. For the time being, only Jan Slota, chairman of the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS), has openly supported Meciar and said he believes all representatives of his party will do the same. The opposition, using the decision of the Constitutional Court which found the interior minister guilty of obstructing the May referendum on direct presidential election, is trying to solve the election problem by announcing a date for a new referendum. Evidently the activity of opposition deputies forced the HZDS to consider the Meciar's candidacy already in the second round. Kovac's term ends March 2. If no new president has been elected, the powers of the position go to the government (for more information see Carolina 275). Paula Majorova/Sofia Karakeva Game As Medicine The Center for the Care of Drug Addiction in Bratislava is trying to introduce a new method for treating drug addicts. Drug addicts are to be helped by Tamagoci. "This electronic game faithfully reflects the state of the patient," said Dr. Lubomir Okruhlika to the newspaper SME. According to how the tamagoci feels it is possible to observe improvement of worsening of the patient's state. The addict begins to feel he is useful, that he has someone to care for and awakens from apathy. To determine the success of the treatment, it has been recorded that almost every tamagoci is feeling good. Paula Majorova/Sofia Karakeva ECONOMY Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from February 20) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 23.160 Belgium 100 BEF 91.955 Great Britain 1 GBP 56.498 Denmark 1 DKK 4.976 ECU 1 XEU 37.510 Finland 1 FIM 6.255 France 1 FRF 5.659 Ireland 1 IEP 47.168 Italy 1000 ITL 19.248 Japan 100 JPY 27.326 Canada 1 CAD 24.083 Luxemburg 100 LUF 91.955 SDR 1 XDR 46.414 Hungary 100 HUF 16.545 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.839 Norway 1 NOK 4.548 New Zealand 1 NZD 20.064 Poland 1 PLN 9.688 Portugal 100 PTE 18.534 Austria 1 ATS 2.697 Greece 100 GRD 12.014 Germany 1 DEM 18.970 Slovakia 100 SKK 97.567 Slovenia 100 SIT 20.064 Spain 100 ESP 22.395 Sweden 1 SEK 4.265 Switzerland 1 CHF 23.493 USA 1 USD 34.465 CULTURE Alfons Mucha Museum Opens in Prague A permanent exhibit of Alfons Mucha's works, dedicated to the art and life of the Czech Art Nouveau icon, was opened in Prague's Kaunicky Palace on Panska Street February 12. The museum came into existence thanks to the Mucha Foundation and the Copa company. The Mucha Foundation's president is John Mucha, the artist's grandson, who lives with his family in London. This exposition's goal is to maintain, exhibit and popularize Mucha's work. The exhibited works, about 100 in number, have been borrowed from the family collection represented by the Mucha Foundation, and also from tennis player Ivan Lendl, an enthusiastic Mucha collector. The unique collection includes oil paintings, lithographs - mostly posters and decorative panels, pastels, drawings, photographs of the painter and his models, jewelry, currency notes he designed, stamp designs, sculptures and the artist's personal things. Mucha was born July 24, 1860 in Ivancice in southern Moravia. At the age of 19 he left for Vienna to work as a scene painter for the theater. Mucha received his most interesting and most important commission in 1894, when Sarah Bernhardt ordered a poster for her part as Gismonda. It was Mucha's first poster, and its great success brought him a contract with the "divine Sarah" for six years. From 1897 he organized one-man exhibits in the Bodiniere Gallery in Paris. Then he presented his work at Salon des Cent's. In 1900, he published his handbook for artists - Documentes decoratifs et Figures decoratives. In 1906 Mucha left for America, where he painted and taught. Four years later, he returned to Prague and painted the Slavic Epic, which he gave in 1928 to the Czech people and the city of Prague. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, Mucha was among the first arrested, and died July 14 of that year, not a long time after his release from jail. The first Mucha museum in the world represents a cross-section of the artist's works. An exhibit of 300 Mucha works is to follow - it will be open in San Diego in three weeks and will travel throughout America. The Prague Mucha Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m., and a ticket costs 50 crowns for Czech visitors and 100 crowns for foreign visitors. Ajla Zinhasovic/Denisa Vitkova IN BRIEF * The Big Synagogue in Pilsen (Plzen) was re-opened February 11 after a three-year reconstruction. It is the biggest Jewish clerical edifice in the Czech Republic, the second-largest in Europe, and the third-largest in the world. Israeli ambassador to the Czech Republic Rafael Gvir attended the opening ceremony. * The movies Lea, Buttoners (Knoflikari) and The Wonderful Years of Lousy Living (Bajecna leta pod psa) received the most nominations for the annual Czech Film Academy award - the Czech Lion. The nominations were announced February 11 in Prague's Lucerna Theater, where a film critics' award was presented for Buttoners, directed by Petr Zelenka, which garnered the prize at film festival in Rotterdam in the beginning of February (see Carolina 276). Ajla Zinhasovic/Denisa Vitkova SPORTS Czech Hockey Players in Semifinal in Tournament of the Century Their second place in their group determined that the Czech hockey team would meet the defending World Cup winner, the United States, in the quarterfinals of the Olympic hockey tournament. After some very good play, the Czechs defeated America 4-1 (0-1, 3-0, 1-0) February 18. Goaltender Dominik Hasek was dominating in the match, with a save percentage exceeding 97 per cent. Another Czech star, Jaromir Jagr, recorded two points with a goal and an assist, while Ruzicka, Rucinsky and Dopita each scored once. AFTER DEADLINE: The Czechs beat Canada to advance to the final. The semifinal final match ended in a 1-1 tie after regulation (the Canadians scored with 63 seconds remaining in the game), and after no goals were scored in overtime, the Czechs prevailed 1-0 on penalty shots after Hasek was perfect in the clutch. Czech Results from Nagano * One mistake in shooting kept Ivan Masarik from a medal in the 20 km biathlon. * Marcel Maxa recorded the 6th-best time in the slalom and downhill in the alpine skiing combination, but was disqualified after a false start. It would have been the best result of a male alpine skier in Czech history. * The nordic combined competition started with Milan Kucera's 8th place after jumps, and in the closing cross-country he advanced to 5th. * Former sprinters Puskar and Kobian recorded the second-best result in Czech bobsledding history, finishing 8th. * Nineteen-year-old Michal Dolezal jumped the best of the Czechs in Hakuba in the K-120 event. His 116- and 130.5-meter jumps moved Dolezal into 8th place. Other Czechs: Suchacek 15th, Jez 24th. * Saldova, Neumannova, Hanusova and Kocumova finished 6th in the women's cross-country 4x5 km drelay, only five minutes behind the bronze. * Mrazova and Simecek, ice-ancing pair, finished 13th. Daniela Bartova Breaks and Loses World Record Pole-vaulter Daniela Bartova and her Icelandic opponent Flosadottir fought for the world record. In the Czech Indoor Championships in Prague, Bartova broke the world record of with a 4.43-meter jump, but a few hours later Flosadottir added one more centimeter. "I am not in good form yet, I think I can make it to 450 centimeters," said Bartova. Both athletes will meet in the European Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain February 27-March 1. Sport by Roman Jedlicka/Mirek Langer WEATHER A 12-minute, 36-second kiss by Petr Ciz and Vendula Kasikova in a longest-kiss competition, held on Valentine's Day on Prague's Old Town Square, will be entered into the Guinness Book of World Records. The inclusion of this item does mean we have forgotten this is the weather section, it merely serves as documentation of the nice spring weather now resident in Prague. Jaroslav Mares English version edited by Michael Bluhm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. Send them please to the address: CAROLINA@cuni.cz To subscribe to CAROLINA news you send an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@listserv.cesnet.cz The text of message for subscription of the English version must be: SUBSCRIBE CAR-ENG First name Last name or for the Czech version SUBSCRIBE CAR-CS First name Last name To delete your subscription from the list of subscribers you send the following message to the address LISTSERV@listserv.cesnet.cz: SIGNOFF CAR-ENG or SIGNOFF CAR-CS We ask you not to send automatic replies to our list. You can temporarily stop receiving of Carolina by sending the command: SET CAR-ENG NOMAIL All Listserv commands should be sent to the address: LISTSERV@listserv.cesnet.cz Please, don't send commands SUB, SIGNOFF, NOMAIL etc to the address CAR-CS@listserv.cesnet.cz or CAR-ENG@listserv.cesnet.cz!