Green MPs hand Fischer petition calling for human rights to be discussed at EU-China summit in Prague

The Czech Green Party has handed a petition to interim Prime Minister Jan Fischer calling for human rights observance to be discussed at the upcoming EU-China summit to be held in Prague. On Monday morning, Green deputy Kateřina Jacques and head of the Czech branch of Amnesty International Daša van der Horstová handed the petition to the new prime minister and Minister for Minorities and Human Rights Michael Kocáb. Jan Fischer, who is set to have bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao before the summit which will be chaired by president Václav Klaus, said that he would read the petition thoroughly before making up his mind whether to raise the issue of human rights violations with the Beijing delegation. Ms Jacques and other members of the Friends of Tibet parliamentary group already tried to hand the petition to Czech President Václav Klaus who refused to receive them on Friday.