JAZZ

Josef Prusa, lawyer for the dissident Czech cultural group the Jazz Section, fears five leaders sentenced in March for “economic crimes” will draw stiffer sentences at an appeal hearing tentatively scheduled for later this month. “I am afraid the situation will be worse than before,” said Prusa, who handled legal affairs for the Jazz Section until its leaders were arrested and its office was raided by authorities last fall. The prosecution and the defense have appealed the Czech court’s decision, and it is common for sentences to be lengthened if the prosecutor wins the appeal. The maximum penalty for the convictions is eight years.