Proposal to abolish part of amnesty to be filed on Monday

Prague, Jan 9 (CTK) - The proposal that a part of the amnesty that Czech President Vaclav Klaus has declared be abolished will be sent to the Constitutional Court (US) on Monday, the initiator of the move, senator Alena Dernerova (for Severocesi.cz), told CTK Wednesday.

She said the proposal only concerns the part of the amnesty that halts criminal proceedings.

Klaus declared an extensive amnesty on the 20th anniversary of the Czech Republic in his New Year's speech. About 6300 people have been released from prison as yet.

The amnesty pardons some prisoners as well as people given suspended sentences and halts criminal prosecution that continued for minimally eight years and the punishment does not carry more than ten years. Critics from across the political spectrum say this will also cover some corruption and fraud cases.

Supreme State Attorney Pavel Zeman said earlier Wednesday the amnesty may halt the criminal prosecution of 18 big cases involving damage worth hundreds of millions of crowns and that thousands of people might be harmed in these cases.

The legal side of the proposal to the US was prepared by lawyers Hana Marvanova and Milan Hulik.

The proposal attacks the halting of criminal proceedings that have continued for minimally eight years and in which the maximal sentence is ten years in prison.

The proposal is based on that the amnesty violates the rights of equality of the citizens damaged by the amnestied and that it cuts the damaged people off from the opportunity to recover their claims.

The damaged and the victims, after the criminal proceeding are halted, will only be able to raise their possible claims in a complex way in civil proceedings where a three-year limitation period is applied.