Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia: The activities of the Office for the Documentation and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism, particularly its investigation and conviction of former prison security guards and StB (secret police) members accused of human rights violations during the communist era; the criminal investigation of former prison guards and StB members at a military court in Hradec Kralove in August or September 1990 (January 1990 - June 1998)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 June 1998 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ZZZ29606.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia: The activities of the Office for the Documentation and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism, particularly its investigation and conviction of former prison security guards and StB (secret police) members accused of human rights violations during the communist era; the criminal investigation of former prison guards and StB members at a military court in Hradec Kralove in August or September 1990 (January 1990 - June 1998), 1 June 1998, ZZZ29606.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abcb70.html [accessed 21 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A 16 October 1996 AFP article states:
The father of the Czech Republic's Communist party chief has been charged with beating up political prisoners when he worked for the former communist regime's police, investigators said Wednesday. Alois Grebenicek, 74, and two other former StB officers are suspected of beating prisoners during interrogations at Uherske Hradiste police station in the centre of what was then Czechoslovakia in the early 1950s. If their case goes to court, it will be the first trial for alleged crimes committed under communism in the Czech Republic, with a range of sentences of up to 10 years in prison. Grebenicek, who has been living in retirement in southern Moravia has been at the centre of 18-month inquiry by the Office for Documentation and Investigation into Communist Crimes (UDV).
Country Reports 1996 states that "several charges filed by the Office for the Documentation and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism (UDV) were dismissed by the state prosecutor's office for procedural errors or lack of evidence" (915).
Country Reports 1997 states:
Some cases of torture from the Communist era have reached the courts through the efforts of the Office for the Documentation and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism (UDV - see Section 1.e.). In the first conviction of its kind since 1989, a Brno court sentenced 85-year-old former secret police agent and prison guard Jaroslav Daniel in May to 5 years' imprisonment for his brutality toward prisoners in the period from 1948 to 1967 (1055).
A 4 March 1998 CTK article states:
The Office for the Documentation and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism (UDV) has accused three former StB communist secret police employees for abuse of public office, today's Pravo writes. The three were accused in connection with a fabricated trial in the 1950s, in which one man was sentenced to death and several other people to prison for many years. Former StB commander in Hradec Kralove, east Bohemia, Stanislav S., 77 now, and his deputy Josef M., 72, worked out a plan of provocation and sent an agent among farmers in the Jicin region. The agent soon helped arrest ten people, UDV spokesman Tomas Hornof tells the daily....All the three former StB employees can face up to ten years in prison. Former judges might be prosecuted as well, according to Hornof.
Reports on the criminal investigation of former prison guards and StB members at a military court in Hradec Kralove in August or September 1990 could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP). 16 October 1996. "Czech Communist Chief's Father Beat Political Prisoners: Charge." (NEXIS)
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997. 1998. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1996. 1997. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.
CTK National News Wire. 4 March 1998. "Three STB Employees Accused of Abuse of Public OfficePravo." (NEXIS)
Additional Sources Consulted
Amnesty International Report. 1991, 1993, 1996.
CSCE Digest [Washington]. November 1992 - December 1996.
East European Constitutional Review [Chicago]. Spring 1995 - Winter 1998.
East European Reporter [Budapest]. Spring - Summer 1991, January - October 1992.
Electronic sources: IRB databases, Internet, NEXIS/LEXIS, REFWORLD, WNC.
Human Rights Watch World Report. 1993 -1998.
Keesing's Record of World Events, [Cambridge, UK.]. August 1990, September 1990.
News from Helsinki Watch [New York]. 30 April 1992.
RFE/RL Research Reports [Munich]. January 1993 - August 1994.
Transition [Prague]. January 1995 - June 1998.
Uncaptive Minds [Washington]. January 1990 - Fall 1997.
Resource Centre country file on the Czech Republic. January 1993 - May 1998.
