The ministry stands by its position regarding St. Michael's Church

Prague - For the fifth time today, students from art schools and humanities protested publicly against the sale of the former St. Michael's Church in Prague. Last year, the state sold it through the National Library (NL) to its long-time tenant. After five months since May, when they began their protests, the Ministry of Culture responded to the students' call for an expert opinion on the sale. The ministry supports the statements of previous administrations; it accepts the decision of the NL and respects the current property rights relations. The protesters are not satisfied with such a response.
    At the same time as the protests, they are organizing a petition against the sale - which they claim today has 2782 signatures. The protesters gathered again today at the church in the Old Town and marched to the ministry’s headquarters in the Nostitz Palace. According to them, the ministry's policy regarding the church is "burying its head in the sand."
    The director of the NL, Vlastimil Ježek, and the Ministry of Culture both reiterate that the building is not a church but a former church that was decommissioned during the reign of Joseph II. The deteriorating complex was transferred to the institution that preceded the NL in 1984; it was unsuitable for its needs and the NL never had money for its maintenance, says Ježek. He believes the current owner and his tenant saved the building from collapse.
    "We are not interested in what Joseph II. or the communist regime did to the church, but we are interested in what the former and current government has done and is doing with it in modern times, which has some basic standards of values, decency, and good morals," the students argue. The state exercised its preemptive right, but according to the ministry, no state institution was interested in the building - hence the initial lease agreement and subsequently the sale to the tenant.
    "Why then does the Ministry of Culture not offer all those state institutions also the National Theatre and Karlštejn?" ask the protesters. They want to know the criteria by which the state concludes that it does not need a given monument. They believe that "the unnecessary nature of a cultural monument of enormous significance is determined by clientelism, a suspicious cycle of money, and possibly corrupt behavior".
    The building has been the subject of disputes since the early 1990s. Some conservationists, non-governmental anti-corruption organizations, and other entities continue to criticize the reconstruction of the building, the previous unfavorable lease agreement, and now the sale of the property.
    Conservationists condemn the reconstruction, which allegedly cost nearly half a billion crowns; however, the questioned amount was approved by the Ministry of Culture. It was this sum that led to the state's decision to sell the church last year. Although the state, as a landlord, was not satisfied with the program in the church, the contract could not be terminated without the state having to return the investment. The state sold the property for 46 million crowns, which, according to critics, is just under 30 percent of the estimated value.
    Jerri Nowikovsky, the former tenant and current owner of the property, presented his plan in July to establish a Czech glass museum within it. However, he stated that it would definitely not exist before one or two years and that the establishment of the museum and necessary renovations would require five million euros (approximately 142 million crowns), which he is currently raising.