co-founder and general director of the Czech Republic's Nova Television as its new president.

Dr. Vladimir Zelezny, a media entrepreneur, writer, director and playwright in the Czech Republic, will continue in his role as general director of Nova TV, CME president and CEO Mr. Leonard Fertig said last week.

Dr. Zelezny studied social sciences and journalism at Charles University in Prague in 1963 joined the news department of Czechoslovak Television. He was among the first journalists who started broadcasting on the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.

During the Soviet occupation, he worked with every illegal television studio and later went to Great Britain to work with The Associated Press.

Upon returning home, he was dismissed from TV and every station was officially forbidden to hire or cooperate with him.

For 20 years he worked under various pseudonyms.

He was the writer of 10 television programmes and wrote scripts for hundreds more.

Dr. Zelezny also published and edited several clandestine publications.

After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, he became one of the leaders of the successful election campaign for the Civic Forum.

He was later appointed official spokesperson for the Civic Forum and in 1991 he became the official spokesperson for the Czech government and senior advisor to the prime minister.

He is also the founder and vice president of the Franz Kafka Society in Prague.