Válková files defamation charges over piece linking her to notorious prosecutor

The government’s human rights commissioner, Helena Válková, has filed a criminal complaint of defamation over an article that linked her to notorious Communist prosecutor Josef Urválek, Deník N reported. The former justice minister says that she was not involved in the harassment of dissidents, as the Info.cz website wrote. She is also demanding an apology from historian Petr Blažek, who was quoted in the piece in question.

President Miloš Zeman withdrew his nomination of Ms. Válková for the post of ombudsman after the article was published. She rejected calls to quit as human rights commissioner.

Author: Ian Willoughby