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Czech Constitutional Court Is Asked to Question Hillary Clinton on RFE/RL

(Prague, 12 March 2009) – Hillary Clinton who as the serving Secretary of State sits on the Board of Directors of the Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), might be asked to testify before Constitutional Court on employment practices of that U.S.-funded radio station in Czech Republic.

Petition to question Hillary Clinton is submitted to Constitutional Court by Snjezana Pelivan, Croatian citizen suing in that court RFE/RL for infringement of her labor and human rights resulting from violation by RFE/RL the legislative sovereignty of the Czech Republic, its host country.

Armenian citizen Anna Karapetyan brought similar charges against RFE/RL earlier this month in the Supreme Court. The plaintiffs, former employees of RFE/RL, which is subordinate to Broadcasting Board of Governors in Washington, a governmental agency overseeing all U.S. nonmilitary international broadcasting, are suing RFE/RL for practicing national discrimination in labor relations with its non-American and non-Czech employees.

Broadcasting in 28 languages, the nationals of 20 RFE/RL target countries – Afghanistan, Armenia, fm. Yugoslavia, Iraq, Iran, Russia, states of Central Asia, etc. – compose the bulk of RFE/RL total personnel in the Czech Republic. Their uniform employment agreements with RFE/RL effectively deny them any protection of U.S. and Czech labor laws. Official Policies of RFE/RL allow unmotivated terminations of such foreign employees at any time for any reason without informing them why the employment was terminated.

Czech newspaper Lidove noviny, Prague, wrote in editorial commentary “Equality With Precondition. Practice of Free Europe Contradicts Its Ideals”: “Employees are divided in three castes… That situation, as it seems, is brutally abused by the management of the radio station. With foreign employees from the third caste the propagators of democracy deal as colonial power with rightless aborigines.”

Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is appointed by the President “with the advice and consent of the Senate”. Secretary of State is BBG member ex officio. By law, BBG collectively serves as RFE/RL Board of Directors and “makes all major policy determinations governing the operations of RFE/RL.” Also by law, “United States international broadcasting … shall be consistent with the broad foreign policy objectives of the United States.”

Petitioning Constitutional Court to question Hillary Clinton, Snjezana Pelivan notes that after Mrs. Clinton became on January 22, 2009, the member of BBG and RFE/RL Board of Directors, RFE/RL’s “discriminative to foreigners Policies and practices remain the same”. Hillary Clinton’s testimony should clarify if RFE/RL Policies, “which violate labor (employment protection) and human rights (national equality) of RFE/RL foreign workers in the Czech Republic and, thus, contradict Czech labor laws, are dictated by the ‘broad foreign policy objectives of the United States’.”

Commenting on lawsuits against RFE/RL in Czech Republic, an Armenian daily AZG (“People”), Yerevan, wrote recently: “These legal cases are a stamp of shame, a stigma on the history of well-respected Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which has supported democracy for decades.” The article was titled “Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Betrays Its Ideals” http://www.azg.am/EN/2009021204

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are expected on April 4th and 5th to be in Czech Republic holding presently rotating presidency in the Council of European Union.

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ICCEE is a non-governmental non-profit organization established in Prague in 1999. ICCEE is the publisher of the main Armenian magazine in Europe, Orer (Days).

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The CTK News Agency also reported on this issue in the following News Item:

Sacked Croatian journalist feels harmed by RFE
ČTK /

12 March 2009

(NOTE: The CTK (Mr. Karel Petrak) granted us permission to re-print this news story)

Brno, March 11 (CTK) - Croatian journalist Snjezana Pelivan, dismissed by the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), demands that the Czech Constitutional Court (US) question U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the proceedings over her complaint, Pelivan's lawyer David Uhlir told CTK Wednesday.

Pelivan worked in the Prague RFE/RL office and she was given a notice in 2004 that was, according to her account, not properly explained, Uhlir said.

The U.S.-sponsored radio station treated its staff from the third countries in a discriminatory and anti-constitutional way, Uhlir said.

Before the Czech Republic joined the EU, the RFE/RL staffers who were not from the USA or the Czech Republic were insufficiently protected against immediate and unsubstantiated sackings, Uhlir said.

This was the case of not only Pelivan, but also of Armenian Anna Karapetyan, another client of Uhlir, the lawyer said.

Uhlir said the foreigners who work in the Czech Republic for foreign companies deserved the same protection as other employees.

Uhlir said that Clinton's testimony before the Czech Constitutional Court was rather hypothetical. In her position, she enjoys diplomatic immunity and she can refuse the testimony, Uhlir said.

Pelivan said that Clinton might make it clear in the court whether the approach to the employees was dictated by the aim of the general U.S. foreign policy.

Pelivan is demanding the cancellation of earlier verdicts that rejected her complaint.

According to the complaint, there were three groups of employees in the Czech RFE/RL office. The first consisted of U.S. nationals subjected to the U.S. law. The second included Czech citizens with whom the radio station concluded work contracts according to the Czech law and who were protected by the Labour Code.

The third group consisted of foreigners from the third countries, who were, according to Pelivan, disadvantaged.

The RFE/RL broadcasts to 20 countries. It has its headquarters in Prague.

Source: http://praguemonitor.com/2009/03/12/sacked-croatian-journalist-feels-harmed-rfe