Daily news summary

Thousands of believers turnout for Velehrad celebrations despite scorching heat

Tens of thousands of believers assembled in Velehrad on Sunday for celebrations honouring the legacy of Ss Cyril and Methodius, Greek missionaries who brought Christianity to the Czech lands. At a celebratory mass, held out in the open despite the scorching heat, the Archbishop of Olomouc Jan Graubner stressed the need to live by Christian values, not just to proclaim them, and to show generosity and goodwill to the migrants in need of help. The Czech Bishops Conference on Saturday reacted to public displays of xenophobia by saying the Catholic Church was prepared to assist the authorities in accepting Christian migrants whose life is at threat. The People of Goodwill Days at Velehrad will culminate with a charity concert on Sunday night.

Albanian police arrest man suspecting of murdering two Czech tourists

Albanian police have arrested a man suspected to shooting dead two Czech tourists in the northern part of the country on Friday. The tourists were shot on a mountain road near the town of Skadar on their way to a tent camp. The gunman then pushed the car with the dead bodies down a ravine to make it appear an accident. The twenty-six-year old man suspected of the murders was released from prison just a month ago after serving a five year sentence for armed robbery in which a small child was killed.

Albanians go online to apologize for murder of Czech tourists

Hundreds of Albanians have gone on social networks to apologize for the brutal murder of two Czech tourists on Friday. Shortly after news of the murder broke people from Skadar gathered in the streets to lay flowers and light candles in memory of the victims. Some of them carried Czech flags. Among those who posted words of apology and regret was the popular Albanian music group Revolt Klan. “We just wanted to tell the Czech people that all Albanians are not murders, that what happened is shameful and we greatly regret it,” Bruno Pollogati of Revolt Klan told Czech Radio.

Jan Hus celebrations highlight reformer priest’s legacy

The Czech Republic is marking the 600th anniversary of the burning at stake of reformer priest Jan Hus with two days of events highlighting his legacy. They include celebratory masses, concerts, theatre performances and, in Prague, outdoor events in the vicinity of Old Town Square which is dominated by the newly-renovated statue of Jan Hus. Bethlehem chapel, where the reformer priest preached has had a new bell cast in his memory which will first ring on Sunday, on the anniversary of his martyr’s death at the stake.

Government to debate migrant issue on Wednesday

The government will meet on Wednesday to debate the number of migrants that the country would be capable of taking in over the next two years, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec told Czech Television on Sunday. The minister said that the overall number would be smaller than the 1500 people which the country would have been allocated in the event of quotas. According to the present arrangement EU member states are to take in between 40 and 60 thousand migrants on a voluntary basis in order to alleviate the burden on Greece and Italy. Minister Chovanec said that according to his estimate the Czech Republic would take in several hundred migrants in the next two years. The issue is to be debated at a meeting of EU interior ministers later this month.

Migrants filing for asylum may have to undergo medical tests

Some migrants who file for asylum in the Czech Republic are made to undergo medical tests, Lidové noviny’s internet news site reported on Sunday, saying similar practices as in force in other EU member states. This was confirmed by Interior Ministry spokeswoman Hana Mala who said that some migrants lie about their age in order to improve their chances of being granted asylum and if the authorities have serious doubts the applicant is asked to undergo an X-ray of their wrist. According to medical sources this is the easiest way of ascertaining a persons’ approximate age with an error margin of one to two years.

Police to set up cyber crime squad

The Czech police force is to set up a new cyber crime squad in October, Czech public television reported citing Police Presidium spokeswoman Jana Macaliková. Presently cyber crime is dealt with by regular officers but since the amount of cyber crime has seen a steep increase the police is to get a specialized unit which should deal with such cases faster and more efficiently and cooperate closely with similar units abroad. The cases of cyber crime registered by the police reached 2,500 cases with the damage estimated at one billion crowns in 2014, a year-on-year increase of 30 percent.

ANO party still leading popularity polls

The ANO party of the centre-left governing coalition continues to outstrip its rivals in popularity polls, according to the results of a survey conducted by the TNS Aisa agency. Despite a slight drop in support ANO would currently win general elections with 27 percent of the vote. The Social Democrats of the ruling coalition would come second with 19.5 percent and the Communist party would place third with 13.5 percent of the vote. The opposition right wing TOP 09 party would come forth with 10 percent of the vote and the right wing Civic Democrats would get 8.5 percent. The junior party of the ruling coalition, the Christian Democrats, would only just cross the 5 percent margin needed to win seats in the lower house with 5.5 percent.