The Czech 'Forrest Gump,' Serbia Tackles Prison Overcrowding

Plus, Moscow slams European 'Magnitsky list' vote and a provocative Tajik rights group is ordered to shut down.

by S. Adam Cardais, Joshua Boissevain, and Nino Tsintsadze 25 October 2012

1. Czech’s marathon effort to inspire disabled

 

A Czech runner has finished a 30-day tour around Iceland equivalent to 30 marathons to inspire the disabled, AFP reports.

 

 

Rene Kujan, 38, completed the 1,340-kilometer quest the night of 22 October. Many are calling him the "Czech Forrest Gump," after the film character, played by Tom Hanks, who spent years running across the United States.

 

Kujan's journey began five years ago, when doctors told him he might never walk again after being seriously injured in a car accident, AFP reports.

 

"The idea of helping the disabled was born at a Czech rehabilitation center," Kujan said. "During my treatment, I got to know lots of people, brave and strong, many of whom had a much tougher fate than running a marathon a day."

 

Kujan also raises money to help paraplegics.

 

Kujan is the first runner to circle Iceland by road, according to Icelandic press reports cited in Lidove noviny.

 

In Iceland, the runner averaged over five hours of road time a day, AFP reports. As Kujan approached Reykjavik Monday evening, some 50 runners followed him to the finish line.

 

2. Serbian lawmakers approve amnesty for thousands of prisoners

 

The Serbian parliament passed a law 24 October to grant early release to 3,600 of the country's roughly 8,000 prisoners to tackle chronic overcrowding, Balkan Insight reports.

 

Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic said 1,000 prisoners will be released immediately. He added that the early releases will save the state 127 million dinars ($1.45 million).

 

The opposition says the law will put serious offenders back on the streets.

 

"Without any doubt some hardened criminals, sentenced for serious and violent offences, would be released," opposition lawmaker Bojan Djuric said, according to Balkan Insight.

 

Supporters counter that no prisoner sentenced to over six months will be amnestied. In an October report, the European Commission noted that Serbian prisons face "serious problems due to overcrowding."

 

3. Moscow rebukes European Parliament over proposed ‘Magnitsky list’ sanctions

 

On 24 October, Russia condemned a recommendation by the European Parliament to impose European Union-wide sanctions on Russian officials implicated in the death of attorney Sergei Magnitsky, RIA Novosti reports. Moscow called the move an intrusion into its judicial system that aimed to separate Russia and Europe.

 

The EU legislature adopted a proposal 23 October to enact travel bans and asset freezes against the 60 individuals believed to be involved in the incarceration of Magnitsky, a Moscow lawyer arrested on tax evasion charges in 2008, days after accusing Russian authorities of tax fraud. He died in pre-trial detention in 2009 after allegedly being beaten to death.

 

"We have a lot in common with Europe," Alexei Pushkov, head of the Duma's international affairs committee, told Interfax. "We have made substantial progress in the promotion of contacts, visas, and humanitarian exchanges in recent years. But this resolution of the European Parliament undermines the positive steps towards each other."

 

For the parliament’s recommendation to take effect, it would require unanimous approval from the EU Council, which analysts say is unlikely, according to RIA Novosti.

 

Russian officials responded similarly last month after reports that the British government had imposed sanctions against the officials on the so-called Magnitsky list. The blacklist of officials emerged in the United States as part of a bill approved by the Senate to prompt Russian action on the matter.

 

4. Prominent Tajik anti-torture group ordered to close