Svatopluk Karasek dismissed as human rights commissioner

Svatopluk Karasek has been dismissed as the government's human rights commissioner. In an interview for the daily Pravo, Mr. Karasek said that he was dismissed without reason, and the paper notes that the Civic Democratic cabinet did not make the information public at its regular press conference following the Wednesday decision. Reacting to the news at a press conference on Saturday, Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek said that while he and Mr. Karasek did not always get along and are not men of the same blood, Mr. Karasek did his job well since being appointed in November 2004. Mr. Karasek has been replaced by former Civic Democratic MP Jan Litomisky.