Senators sign proposal to press charges against Klaus

Prague, Feb 26 (CTK) - The required number of 27 senators have signed a proposal to charge outgoing Czech President Vaclav Klaus with high treason in connection with his New Year's amnesty, Senate press secretary Pavlina Hermankova said yesterday referring to Social Democrat (CSSD) senator Jiri Dienstbier.

This is the first such complaint about a Czech president.

President-elect Milos Zeman, who will replace Klaus on March 8 and who criticised the amnesty in the past, said yesterday he does not consider it high treason.

"It is by no means high treason. I consider it a mistake," he said.

Klaus's amnesty has aroused an outcry by its extent and by halting the proceedings in some closely-watched corruption and fraud cases.

Klaus, currently on a visit to Slovakia, told journalists that he will not react to the information about the proposed constitutional complaint.

Last week Klaus dismissed speculations about whether the amnesty was or was not in line with the constitution and the head of state's powers.

Klaus said he would declare the same amnesty again.

Karel Janecek, the initiator of the petition and founder of the Anti-corruption Endowment, said on Czech Television (CT) this afternoon 27 senators already signed the petition, but it later showed that there were fewer signatures.

The proposal to file a constitutional complaint is submitted to the Senate's organisational committee that will assess its technical correctness.

The complaint is sent to the Constitutional Court if an absolute majority of senators present support it.

The next Senate session starts on March 20.

Janecek says it is meaningful to file a complaint against Klaus even though his term expires next week.

"The aim is not to punish Klaus. The principles of the rule of law are at stake and they have been fundamentally violated with this crime," Janecek told CTK.

He said he cannot imagine that anyone in this country could still believe in justice and democracy if the amnesty went unnoticed.

Janecek handed the petition with more than 73,000 signatures to Senate chairman Milan Stech (Social Democrats, CSSD) yesterday.