President nominates Srp to join Council of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes

President Miloš Zeman on Friday nominated former dissident and former Jazz Section head Karel Srp to join the Council of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. His nomination needs to be approved by the Senate. Earlier this year, Mr Srp was rejected by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka as the president’s nominee for a commission examining who should be recognised as a member of the anti-Communist resistance during the previous regime. At the time, the prime minister praised Srp for having done much for independent culture under communism. However, he said, public information showed that the candidate had repeatedly informed to the StB secret police. A court ruled in 2000 that his name had wrongfully been listed in StB records, but former members of the pre-1989 underground maintain Mr Srp had informed on them during the former regime.

Author: Jan Velinger