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December 20, 1999
His Excellency Milos Zeman
Prime Minister
Urad vlady Ceske Republiky
nabrezi Edvarda Benese 4
118 01 Praha 1
The Czech Republic
Fax: 011-4202-231-2358
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is greatly alarmed by the criminal prosecution of
broadcast journalist Zdenek Zukal for allegedly making false accusations against public officials. If
he is found guilty on all three charges filed against him, Zukal could be jailed for up to nine years.
On December 13, the Czech state attorney's office charged Zukal, the owner and director of private
TV Studio ZZIP in the town of Olomouc, with falsely accusing local law enforcement officials of
corruption and links with organized crime in a series of investigative reports broadcast on TV Nova
in 1997. Zukal faces one count of "assisting in the criminal act of false accusation" under Articles
10.1 and 174.1 of the Czech Penal Code, and two counts of making false accusations under Article 174.1
of the same code.
Each count carries a maximum three-year jail sentence. Prosecutors informed Zukal his trial will
likely begin in February.
Local police in Olomouc have harassed Zukal and his staff since his first report on police
corruption aired nationwide on TV Nova in April 1997. He was first arrested on April 24, 1997 and
charged with "spreading false rumors" under Article 160.1 of the Czech Penal Code. The charges were
dropped in November of that year, however, after the investigator found no evidence to support this
charge.
Zukal was again arrested on January 5, 1998, in connection with a November 19, 1997 report on TV
Nova's evening news in which he attempted to prove that Vladimir Pryzna, a top local police
investigator, had accepted a bribe from a local businessman wanted on charges of fraud and currency
counterfeiting. Zukal was charged with criminal libel.
In February 1998, President Vaclav Havel issued an amnesty that included those
accused of criminal libel, so the police altered the charge to "making false
accusations." The police concluded their investigation in November 1999, when
they submitted a 1,000-page file on Zukal to the state attorney's office, which
decided to press charges. Zukal may be forced to represent himself during the
trial, as he has run out of funds to pay an attorney.
As a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to defending the rights of our colleagues
around the world, CPJ feels strongly that no journalist should be jailed or harassed for what he or
she writes. Furthermore, we believe public officials in a democracy must submit to journalistic
scrutiny without resorting to criminal prosecution. We believe that your government's decision to
press criminal charges against Zukal violates international law and can only have a chilling effect on
investigative journalism in the Czech Republic.
We urge your Excellency to ensure that all charges against Zukal are dropped. We further urge you
to bring the Czech Republic's legal system into line with international press freedom standards by
working for the repeal of all statutes that criminalize journalism.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
Join CPJ in
Protesting Attacks on the Press in the Czech Republic
Send a letter to:
His Excellency Milos Zeman
Prime Minister
Urad vlady Ceske Republiky
nabrezi Edvarda Benese 4
118 01 Praha 1
The Czech Republic
Fax: 011-4202-231-2358
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