Czech far-right leader acquitted

. A court in the Czech Republic has acquitted the leader of the far-right Republican Party, Miroslav Sladek, of the charge of inciting racial hatred.

The court also ordered his release from custody.

The charge against Mr Sladek arose from a speech in which he said not enough Germans had been killed in the Second World War.

The court accepted Mr Sladek's explanation that he only wanted to recall Czech suffering at the hands of Germany.

The BBC correspondent in Prague says the publicity surrounding the trial appears to have benefitted Mr Sladek and confirmed that the justice system is a poor means of combatting him.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service