Czech US plenary session to handle amnesty scrapping proposal

The US leadership made the decision today. The file has been assigned to US judge-rapporteur Vladimir Kurka, the spokesman, Vlastimil Goettinger, said.

"It is impossible to comment on how long it may take the court to handle the complaint...The court will consider at a plenary session how urgent the handling of the case is," he added.

When the senators lodged the proposal on Tuesday, observers expected its handling to last a few days or a few weeks at the most.

The senators have proposed the abolition of the amnesty´s article that halts the cases of criminal prosecution if it lasted more than eight years and the crime involved is punishable with ten years in prison at the most.

The complainants say this part of the amnesty, which Klaus declared on the 20th anniversary of the Czech Republic, violates the right to equality of the parties damaged by the pardoned suspects and thwarts their chance of enforcing their claims.

They say the rights of a large number of people, up to 150,000, have been violated.

It is mainly this controversial article that stirred a wave of criticism and protests of politicians, experts and the public.

Besides, the amnesty scraps short prison and suspended sentences and all alternative sentences.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz