(CPJ/IFEX) – On 8 January 1998, CPJ expressed concern about the 5 January detention by police in Olomouc of Zdenek Zukal, the owner and director of the private TV Studio ZZIP, on charges of criminal libel. Police summoned Zukal to headquarters in Olomouc on 5 January to question him about a news piece he had […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 8 January 1998, CPJ expressed concern about the 5 January
detention by police in Olomouc of Zdenek Zukal, the owner and director of
the private TV Studio ZZIP, on charges of criminal libel.
Police summoned Zukal to headquarters in Olomouc on 5 January to question
him about a news piece he had produced for TV Nova’s evening news
broadcast that aired on 19 November 1997. Zukal refused to answer his
interrogators’ questions about his reporting in the piece, which
attempted to prove that Vladimir Pryzna, a top police investigator, had
accepted a bribe from a local businessman wanted on charges of fraud and
currency counterfeiting. As a result of his refusal to discuss his work,
the police charged Zukal with making “biased and false accusations”
against Pryzna under Article 174.1 of the Czech Penal Code. The charges
were handed to Zukal in the form of a document, which was dated 22
December.
Zukal was held for several hours in police headquarters before being
taken in handcuffs to the local prosecutor’s office. The local prosecutor
agreed to press charges and to detain Zukal for the duration of the
criminal investigation. The journalist was then forced to appear before a
local judge, who ruled there was no reason to keep Zukal in prison and
released him. However, the charges stand and the police are continuing
their investigation against Zukal. After Zukal’s release, police searched
the studios of TV Studio ZZIP as well as the journalist’s apartment.
Background Information
For more than a year, police have harassed Zukal and his six employees
for their journalistic investigations of police corruption in Olomouc. On
24 April 1997, Zukal was charged with “spreading false rumours” under
Article 160.1 of the Czech Penal Code, for an investigative piece on
police corruption broadcast on TV Nova. The charges were dropped in
November when the police officer investigating the case said he had found
no evidence to support the accusation.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Czech President:
civil cases, and no journalist should be jailed or harassed for
scrutinizing public officials
seditious libel statutes from the country’s penal code, pointing out that
the remaining penal code provisions that criminalize libel have a
chilling effect on investigative journalism because they hamper freedom
of expression as guaranteed by the Czech Republic’s constitution and
international obligations
calling on him to investigate the actions against Zdenek Zukal, which
clearly violate all international norms of press freedom
journalist are dropped
Appeals To
His Excellency Vaclav Havel
President of the Czech Republic
Fax: +4202 2437 3300
E-mail: pehej@rferl.org
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
