Police on Thursday brought charges of propagating Nazism against Michal Zitko, the owner of the Prague- based Otakar II. publishing house.

Police on Thursday brought charges of propagating Nazism against Michal Zitko, the owner of the Prague- based Otakar II. publishing house, which in March began putting out a first ever unabridged and non-commented Czech translation of Hitler's book Mein Kampf, Lidove noviny writes. "The charges have been sent to me. There is a paragraph there that only states that I have published this book, and thus [according to the charges] I have committed the criminal offence of support and propagation of a movement aimed at suppressing minorities," said Zitko, who also described the charges against him as a "classic political process". Zitko also said it seemed apparent to him that the police were acting exactly based on the wishes of the government. Zitko said he was confident that a court would eventually find him not guilty of the charges, since he considers courts in the Czech Republic independent. The appearance in the Czech Republic of Mein Kampf, which is an outline of Nazi ideology, has been criticized by some groups and politicians, but has also increased debate in the country about freedom of speech issues. Zitko, if found guilty of the charges, could face three to eight years in prison.