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Current AffairsOlympic Watch calling on athletes to take a public stand on human rights issues
The eyes of the world are on Beijing where the 2008 Olympic Games get
underway with a grand opening ceremony on Friday night. Ten thousand
sportspeople from 205 countries are taking part. Millions of people have
traveled to Beijing to witness what the Chinese promise to be the grandest
spectacle in Olympic history. Yet there are also many who are boycotting
the games and drawing attention to the situation in Tibet and the extent of
human rights violations in China. Olympic Watch, a human rights
organization set up in Prague in 2001, has called on national Olympic teams
to “adopt” China’s political prisoners and find some way of
expressing public support for them. I spoke earlier to Petr Kutílek of
Olympic Watch to find out more about the campaign:
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Current AffairsOlympic Watch urges athletes, politicians to “adopt” China’s prisoners of conscience
The eyes of the world are on Beijing where athletes have been arriving for
the 2008 Olympic games due to begin this coming Friday. And as the opening
ceremony nears human rights activists around the world are stepping up the
pressure on the Chinese regime, demanding greater openness and the release
of all prisoners of conscience. More
Current AffairsCzech Republic marks anniversary of 1948 communist putsch
It was 60 years ago Monday, that Czech President Edvard Beneš, under
enormous pressure, capitulated and appointed a communist government led by
Klement Gottwald. This event, known as the February putsch is viewed by
many as a tragic blunder on the part of the president – had he stood
firm, and not accepted the resignations of the non-communist parties in
the
government, which outnumbered the communists, the ascendancy of one party
rule may have been averted. More
Current AffairsMock prison camp on Wenceslas Square to jog memories of communist past
It's eighteen years since the Velvet Revolution that toppled communism in
Czechoslovakia, so if you're walking through the centre of Prague in the
next ten days you might be surprised to stumble across a communist-era
prison camp just a few metres from the McDonalds on Wenceslas Square. The
mock camp is actually an exhibition to remind Czechs of the 8,000 people
who died in prison camps and uranium mines during the communist era.
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Current AffairsTrial begins of former prosecutor who helped send Milada Horakova to gallows
On Tuesday a court in Prague began hearing the case against Ludmila
Brozova-Polednova, the last living participant in one of the most
notorious
show trials of communist-era Czechoslovakia. In 1950, Mrs
Brozova-Polednova
was a 29-year-old prosecutor who helped condemn the democratic politician
Milada Horakova to death. Now 86, she is being tried as an accomplice to
murder. More
Current AffairsCommunist MP Josef Vondruska stripped of immunity to face criminal charges
The Chamber of Deputies stripped Communist MP Josef Vondruska of immunity
on Wednesday. Mr Vondruska will now face criminal charges in connection
with his job as a prison guard in 1980s. Several political prisoners who
served their jail time under Mr. Vondruska have accused him of brutality
and abuse of power. The case will now be investigated by the police and Mr
Vondruska could go to prison for up to ten years.
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Current AffairsPolice seek lifting of immunity for communist-era prison warden turned MP
The lower house's mandate and immunity committee received an unprecedented
request from prosecutors this week - to lift an MP's immunity so he can be
investigated for alleged offences committed during the communist regime.
Police want to question Communist Party MP Josef Vondruska following
charges of brutality filed by former political prisoners.
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Current AffairsMene Tekel festival commemorates the victims of communism
Last week, the first Mene Tekel festival dedicated to the history of
totalitarianism in this country was held in Prague to coincide with the
anniversary of the communist putsch in 1948. Taking its name from the
so-called writing on the wall, which appears in the Bible's Book of Daniel
and refers to the counting, considering and punishment of evil deeds, the
Mene Tekel festival aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the
oppression meted out by the communist regime in this country for more than
forty years.
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