Czech TV boss faces charges

100,000 people demonstrated on Wenceslas Square, Prague

The Czech Culture Minister, Pavel Dostal, has said he will bring charges against the director-general of the country's public television station, Jiri Hodac, for blacking out an interview he gave to rebel journalists.

If Mr Hodac prevents the public from finding out [what the government has discussed], he is acting illegaly and I will, of course, file criminal charges tomorrow

Czech Culture Minister
Pavel Dostal

He was speaking on Wednesday night as 100,000 people demonstrated in support of the journalists at Czech TV (CT), who are staging a sit-in in protest at what they see as Mr Hodac's politically motivated appointment.

The demonstration, in Prague's Wenceslas Square, was the largest since the Velvet Revolution which ended communist power in Czechoslovakia.

The minister's comments came in an interview seen by viewers on cable and satellite, but kept off terrestrial television by Mr Hodac's team.

He said he wanted to inform the public about the government's decision on Wednesday to change the law on how top broadcasting officials are appointed.

Debate in progress

"If Mr Hodac prevents the public from finding out about these matters, he is acting unlawfully, and I of course will file criminal charges tomorrow," Mr Dostal said.

Mr Hodac, a former BBC Czech service journalist who worked briefly as head of CT news last year, denies that he would make the station into a mouthpiece for any party.

Parliament is debating the government's proposed emergency legislation, in an attempt to resolve the crisis, which has continued since Mr Hodac's appointment on 20 December.

Culture Minister Pavel Dostal says he will bring charges against Jiri Hodac

Ministers have suggested that civic organisations should propose new appointees to CT's board of governors, giving political parties less control over the process.

The striking journalists say that though Mr Hodac's appointment is legal, he is too closely alligned to the main opposition Civic Democrat party (ODS), which is in a power-sharing agreement with the minority Social Democrat (CSSD) government.

They reject the government's proposal, saying it will take too long to come into force, and that only the immediate departure of Mr Hodac from the helm of CT offers a way out.

European Union

Twelve foreign journalists also showed their support for the strike on Wednesday, appearing in the background of a live report from CT's Brussels correspondent broadcast by the rebel staff.

EU authorities in Brussels said they were considering a call by the International Federation of Journalists for intervention in the Czech TV crisis.

The freedom of the media is one of the criteria by which the Czech Republic's application for membership of the European Union will be assessed.

Popular support

Protests also took place in the eastern cities of Brno and Ostrava.

In Prague speakers - including artists, actors, politicians and journalists - called for Mr Hodac to resign.

"It is very clear why we are here. The independence of television is at stake," said one protester.

There is widespread popular support for the journalists' stand, and more than 120,000 people have signed a petition backing their protest. Czech President Vaclav Havel has also expressed support for the strikers.

However, Prime Minister Milos Zeman has said that if Mr Hodac is forced to resign, the rebel journalists should also quit.

He has also argued that demonstrations are an undemocratic method of forcing changes to the law.