Explosive prank by Czech artgroup Ztohoven could end up with jail sentence

In June we told you about Czech artists who hacked a TV station and inserted a nuclear explosion into a live weather report — their creative way of warning about media manipulation. All it took was climbing onto a TV facility in the Krkonose area and connecting a notebook computer with a pirate feed to a camera and broadcast cable.

Last month, those graphic guerrillas, who call their collective Ztohoven, won a prestigious award from the Czech National Gallery for their video creation, titled "Media Reality." The group has struck before. In 2002, members refashioned a neon sculpture, shaped as a heart in honour of outgoing President Vaclav Havel, into a giant question mark over Prague Castle.

Now, according to Radio Prague, they may have to use their $18,000 prize money for lawyers: They've been charged with scaremongering and propagating false information.

Trial is set to begin in a month. The group could face up to 3 years in prison or a big fine, if convicted. Read their public statement.

If divided into three words, Z toho ven means "out of it" in Czech, but when pronounced, it can also be understood as "a hundred shits." Ztohoven operates in near anonymity but its core group is well-known: it includes artists Mira Slava, Oto Horsi, Roman Tyc, and group spokesman Zdenek Dostal.