Classification of crimes committed between 1948 and 1989 and the prosecution of these crimes after 1990
Classification of crimes committed between 1948 and 1989 and the prosecution of these crimes after 1990

Author(s): Miroslav Lehký
Subject(s): Politics, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Criminology, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), History of Communism
Published by: Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů
Summary/Abstract: Dear Ms Němcová, ladies and gentlemen, In introduction, let me present a brief overview of the most grievous crimes committed by the communist regime in Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1989. The period after the Communist Party’s assumption of power in February 1948 saw severe violations of all principal human rights and freedoms as well as civic rights. The fabricated political trials that the communist regime used to eliminate the opponents of the regime, which were based on investigations carried out by the State Security Service (“StB”) using torture and gross physical and psychological violence, resulted in the conviction of more than 257,000 people between 1948 and 1989, and if we include the people convicted by martial courts, the number exceeds 267,000 people. The very archival documents of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (“UV KSČ”) dating back to the 1950s list almost 27,000 people convicted for “anti-state crimes” between 1948 and 1952. The people were sentenced to severe imprisonment (15 or 25 years, or for life) and their personal property was forfeited and their civic and political rights taken away from them. A total of 248 people (including one woman) were executed for political reasons.

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