The saga continues…
Czech artists to be retried over nuclear blast prank
CTV.ca
July 7, 2008
Prague (AP) — An appeals court has ordered a retrial for a group of artists who hacked into a national television weather broadcast to show a fake nuclear explosion in the Czech mountains, an official said Monday.
Members of the Prague-based Ztohoven art group admitted tampering with equipment at the public broadcaster Czech Television so viewers watching a live panoramic shot of the Krkonose, or Giant Mountains, in June last year saw a flash of bright light and a fiery mushroom cloud rising on the horizon.
Seven artists were acquitted of spreading false information in March but the state prosecutor appealed the verdict. An appeals court in Hradec Kralove, east of the capital Prague, overturned the decision last week in a ruling made public Monday, court spokesman Michal Strnad said.
The court ordered a new trial for a date yet to be set. If found guilty, they face a maximum three-year jail term.
The group claimed the aim of its project was to show how reality could be manipulated by the media. Czech Television called such stunts “improper” and said they could scare many people.
In December, Prague’s National Gallery awarded Ztohoven the new NG 333 prize for young artists. The 333 stands for the size of the cash prize — 333,000 koruna or about $22,000.
image: Takeaway Festival
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