Dear friends and colleagues,
Although it is quite obvious that the indictment of our colleagues Petr Svacha and Emil Kucera had been from the start based on lies, deceit and fabricated documentation, yesterday the court in Darjeeling issued a ruling so unexpected that it left all concerned parties flabbergasted. Petr Svacha has been acquitted on the grounds that the charges levied against him proved unfounded, whereas Emil Kucera was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to three years of jail without probation. The ruling is so bizarre that it defies comment.
The counts of the indictment are:
1. Collecting insects in the Singhalia National Park without a permit.
2. Collecting the most endangered, protected species.
3. Collecting with the intent of commercial gain.
None of the counts is true. The accused never entered the park, were apprehended in a hotel, and the Zoological Institute in Calcutta, where the confiscated specimens had been sent for identification, concluded that the material contains no protected species and is of no commercial value.
Because of the above, we plan to protest at embassies of India until also Emil Kucera is cleared of the charges. Svacha and Kucera simply happened to be at the wrong time in the wrong place and became hostage to west Begal officials, whose aims are territorial. It is only part of a political ploy in a region where civil war may erupt at any time, as armed conflicts have been occurring there for quite a while.
I therefore turn to you with the question whether you would be able and willing to organise protests in your respective countries. Please let me know as soon as possible, so that the actions can be coordinated and properly timed.
Let me also use this opportunity to thank all of those who have in any way supported the effort to get our colleagues back home. Unfortunately, I can thank only those whose e-mail addresses are available to me, therefore please forward this message to others. As soon as I get responses from those able to organise protests, you will receive contacts on organisers in your respective areas.
So far I have organisers in Vienna and Ottawa. If one cannot be found in your country, please write me anyway at
entotera@login.cz, so that your letter can be included in other written materials and petitions and handed over to the officials at the Indian Embassy in Prague. Let me propose 18 September 2008 at 4 p.m. of local time for the first demonstration. In the next communication you will be informed whether this was found convenient. I will be most obliged for any support you can extend.
Cordially yours,
Vladislav Maly
for the Czech Entomological Society
średnio 6500 rupii (100 rupii to niecałe 5 PLN). 
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