Válková to remain government commissioner for human rights

The government‘s Council for Human Rights has supported Helena Válková in the post of government commissioner for human rights in the wake of a scandal concerning her activities under the communist regime.

Two council members - attorney Tomáš Němeček and Hubert Smekal from the Faculty of Social Studies of Masaryk University – resigned in protest of the outcome of the vote.

Válková, who is accused of having defended laws which the communist authorities used to harass dissidents and co-authored an article with the notorious communist prosecutor who sent Milada Horáková to the gallows, told reporters that she had apparently managed to better explain all the circumstances of her case and had gained support in the council.

The Government Council for Human Rights has 25 members. Fifteen of them are representatives of the Office of the Government, ministries and other institutions. Ten members represent the public, among them the two who resigned. Another member of the council, philosopher Daniel Kroupa, resigned last year when Válková took up her post.