Activists protest ČSSD's position on mining bill

Prague, Oct 10 (CTK) - Greenpeace activists Wednesday symbolically "expropriated" the opposition Social Democrats' (CSSD) headquarters in Prague in protest against the party's reluctance to back an amendment to the mining law that would scrap the chance to expropriate people for the sake of coal mining.

They have replaced the CSSD's flag on the building with flags bearing the names of coal mining companies OKD and Czech Coal.

Climbing onto the roof, they have unfolded banners reading "Scrap expropriation due to coal" and "CSSD does not mind towns being pulled down due to coal."

The activists have also symbolically boarded up the entrance to the building.

The police and firefighters are intervening at the place of the protest.

"We are calling on the CSSD to clearly and publicly confirm that it rejects expropriation of common people for the benefit of coal magnates and that in the Senate it will support the draft amendment to the mining law that scraps the expropriation articles," Jan Rovensky, head of Greenpeace's campaign focusing energy and climate-related issues, told CTK.