|
12. 6. 2003
In spite of assurances to the contrary, Czech police continues investigating journalists!In spite of last week's official assurances to the contrary, it has now become apparent that the Czech police still continues to investigate the alleged "verbal crimes" committed by Jana Bobošíková, the presenter of Czech commercial Nova TV's flagship programme "Seven days", which she is under suspicion of having committed by asking the wrong kind of questions on air.
|
|
Suprisingly, on Monday 9th June, days after the case against Bobošíková is supposed to have been dropped, the police telephoned Nova TV demanding a video recording of the debating programmes in which presenter Jana Bobošíková is deemed to have committed her verbal crimes. This has been confirmed by Bobošíková to the internet daily Britské listy. The Office of the Czech Prosecutor General has told us it has no information of the case of another Czech journalist, Irena Válová, who is under suspicion for having committed five verbal offences by presenting a report in Czech Parliament, warning against a monopoly in the distribution of newspapers in the Czech Republic. The spokesperson of the Czech Office of the Prosecutor General has told Britské listy that the Prosecutor General is not about to investigate the illegality of interrogating the two aforementioned journalists for alleged "verbal crimes", but it is to investigate whether it would have been legal to drop the charges against them if the case against them were to be dropped. Pavel Macur, spokesperson for the Czech Prosecutor General Marie Benešová, has told Britské listy:
The Case of [Nova TV presenter] Jana Bobošíková. The State Prosecutor's Office does not know at the moment whether her case has been dropped. It is a matter of time. The Office of the Prosecutor General has no legal right to interfere with criminal investigations which take place at District or Regional Offices. If the charges against Jana Bobošíkova are dropped, The State Prosecutor's Office will then investigate whether the dropping of the case has been in line with the law. The case of Irena Válová. At the moment, the State Prosecutor's Office is not studying this case. Should the case be shelved by a lower authority, the State Prosecutor's Office will, again, like in the case of Jana Bobošíková, investigate whether the dropping of the case has been in line with the law. The suspicion of the "verbal crimes" that the two journalists are alleged to have committed is ludicrous in any civilised society. It is a matter of concern that no Czech authority has been able to intercede and to stop this absurd harassment of journalists.
For current information in Czech, see HERE
|
