Senate hearing on presidential amnesty

The Czech Senate is holding a public hearing on the controversial amnesty declared by President Vaclav Klaus at the start of this year. The hearing is attended by the country’s leading experts on constitutional law and the debate centers on whether the amnesty, which concerns several cases of high-profile economic crime, may not be in violation of the constitution. There have also been proposals that the constitution should be amended to curb the president’s powers in this respect. President Klaus, who continues to defend the amnesty, refused to attend the hearing.