Czech nuclear artists face trial

A group of Czech artists who allegedly hacked into a national television weather broadcast to show a fake nuclear blast at a mountain resort will face trial and possible three-year jail terms if convicted, a state prosecutor said this week.

Members of the Ztohoven group allegedly tampered with equipment so Czech viewers watching a live panoramic shot of the Krkonose, or Giant Mountains, in the northern Czech Republic on June 17, 2007, were jolted by a flash of bright light. When the light cleared, a fiery mushroom cloud could be seen rising on the horizon.

The Prague-based group claimed the aim of the project named “Media Reality” was to show how reality could be manipulated by the media. The public broadcaster Czech Television called the project “improper” and said it could scare a great number of people.