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Current AffairsAhead of elections, Prague authorities make fresh move to control prostitution

A month ahead of local elections, Prague officials have revived efforts to legalize prostitution. City Hall has come up with a bill that would grant prostitutes the status of self-employed workers, and give the authorities the power to regulate the oldest profession. But passing the bill would require the Czech Republic to pull out of a convention on human trafficking, a move rejected by MPs in the past.  More

NewsPrague City Hall approves bill to legalize prostitution

PanoramaHuman trafficking can also involve Czechs exploited in Czech Republic, says head of NGO La Strada

A report on human trafficking released last week by the US State Department called on the Czech Republic to do more to increase the number of convicted trafficking offenders serving time in prison. It also praised Prague’s efforts to protect and assist victims. But the Czech branch of the NGO La Strada, which works in this field, questions aspects of Washington’s annual Trafficking in Persons report. La Strada’s director Irena Konečná says, for instance that it makes the mistake of conflating trafficking and pimping.  More

NewsPolice charge German national with murder of young prostitute

Current AffairsTransport authority leased more, not less, casino bars in metro, in spite of town hall ban

The Prague transport authority, Dopravní Podnik, has found itself in hot water with the municipal government, after it was discovered that the company has done nothing to fulfil town hall’s order to remove casino bars from the metro. Not only are the casinos still there, but the transport authority has even signed new contracts with some casinos since the restriction was made, some with leases of up to 13 years.  More

Current AffairsPaper claims foreigners could be working as virtual slaves in Czech Republic

Could tens of thousands of foreign migrants be working in almost slave-like conditions in the Czech Republic? That’s the conclusion of an in-depth investigation by the newspaper Lidové Noviny, which features the story on its front page today. The paper says the global financial crisis has made it even easier for unscrupulous “agencies” to exploit thousands of workers from countries such as Ukraine, Mongolia and Vietnam – using coercion and even physical violence to enslave their victims, many of whom are deeply in debt to their traffickers. We spoke to Irena Konečná, co-ordinator of La Strada Czech Republic, which deals with the problem.  More

Business NewsBusiness News

In Business News this week: the prime minister this year’s state budget deficit will total at least 150 billion crowns; The Czech Republic wins arbitration over Union Banka; the energy giant ČEZ takes out a loan to build a Romanian wind farm; Czech rails are to open up to competition; the global economic downturn hits Czech prostitutes; and the central bank issues coins to honour painter Alfons Mucha and the 14th century Czech king, John of Luxembourg.  More