Czech President Petr Pavel on Thursday signed an amendment to the country’s criminal code that criminalises the promotion of communist ideology, placing it on the same footing as Nazi propaganda.
The revised legislation introduces prison sentences of up to five years for anyone who “establishes, supports or promotes Nazi, communist, or other movements which demonstrably aim to suppress human rights and freedoms or incite racial, ethnic, national, religious or class-based hatred.”
The change follows calls from Czech historical institutions, including the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, to correct what they viewed as a legal imbalance.
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@Hotznplotzn I can totally understand the point of view of left-leaning people - in a world where fascism literally rose back from the ashes and is threatening the whole free world from the inside, a law like this seems just… odd?!?
However, keep in mind the fact that here in Eastern Europe communism caught a totalitarian shape, with regimes in Soviet puppet states systematically breaking human rights and suppressing political opposition. Protests were not allowed, freedom of expression was not guaranteed, and the political elite of the former regime was systematically destroyed.
Even after the Iron Curtain fell, former members of the communist apparatus managed to maintain power, one way or another, and sometimes even their Moscow links. The only way we truly managed to beat them were at the polls, and even there, barely, aided by the big cities and the diaspora in the West.
Here in Romania for example, FSN, and later PSD, successfully managed to take over the entire territorial network of the former communist party. So it was an easy win for them for over 30 years.
If such a law was passed in my country, I don’t think it would have any effect on the unions, as they do not use any communist insignia or whatnot. I think it is rather a way of bonding a permanent rapture with the past, by not allowing bad faith actors to make an apology of totalitarianism.
/my 2c
The thing is, that communism itself isn’t necessarily authoritarian (if we want to be exact communism would mean a complete ebolishment of the state and until this happens we have a somewhat “authoritarian” socialist era). It can be as free as every western country, but it can also be authoritarian. The main principles that are promoted when promoting communism are not authoritarian. Its the idea, that people should own their workplaces and have more freedom, which is quite the opposite.
I guess that’s the same everywhere. There was a similar situation in Germany and Austria after World War II as former Nazi supporters made formidable careers in the public administration. From that point of view I feel somehow it is right to place all these authoritarian ideologies on equal footing. So I’d agree that it could prevent bad faith actors to make an apology for their crimes.
But my view is only that of an observer, I am among the lucky ones who never had to live under an autocratic regime. The Czech president and his generation certainly .know more on that.