Czech Republic

On 25th of May, the International Missing Children's Day was celebrated across Europe. It provided an opportunity to commemorate missing children, express support to parents and victims and raise awareness about the issue. Inspired by the action carried out in Canada, the forget-me-not has been adopted as a symbol for Missing Children's Day in Europe.

According to the independent observers under the Czech law victims are far less protected from hurtful publicity than criminals. In support of these words they show a case of eight-year-old Ondra, who – abused by his mother – was refused the right to privacy, being repeatedly shown in undignified circumstances in TV.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus on signed a law making possession of child pornography a criminal offense punishable by up to two years in prison, officials said.

The bill also raises the maximum jail sentence for producing and distributing child pornography from three to eight years.

Czech legislators on the 13 th of June voted to make possession of child pornography a criminal offense.
Of the 150 deputies present in the parliament's 200-seat lower chamber, 136 voted in favor of the amendment of the country's criminal code. 14 deputies abstained. If approved by the parliament's upper chamber, the Senate, and by the president, possession of child pornography will be punishable by up to 2 years in prison.