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On Friday, 30 May, the Czech Chamber of Deputies approved an amendment to Section 403 of Czechia’s criminal code that could make the “promotion of communism” punishable by up to five years in prison. This scandalous attack on democratic rights cannot go unanswered. The labour movement must organise to defend free speech!
The law would put the “glorification of communist ideology” and sharing communist symbols on par with promoting Nazism. Therefore, publicly displaying the hammer and sickle would incur the same penalty as bearing swastikas under this amended law. And presumably, selling copies of the Communist Manifesto would be seen in the same light as distributing Mein Kampf!
Of 160 deputies present on Friday, 86 voted in favour of the amendment, including all deputies from the ruling coalition parties (bar one abstention). The agreed amendment will now have to be approved by the Senate and signed into law by the President, and could come into effect at the beginning of next year.
In the run-up to this vote, various anti-communist figures and ‘historical organisations’ lobbied the government to crack down on the spread of communist ideas. Kamil Nedvědický, Deputy Director of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, told a press conference last week:
We communists, who strive for an end to all this brutality, will accept no moral lectures about ‘violence’ from those who defend the capitalist system.
Meanwhile, Martin Mejstřík – one of the student leaders during the Velvet Revolution, which led to the restoration of capitalism in Czechoslovakia – has told Epoch Times:
These are historical details that our ladies and gentlemen in government would like to erase.
The intention is clearly to divert the masses’ attention from the government’s woes by whipping up anti-communist demagogy.
The Czech ruling class has chosen this moment in part because of the weakness of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) – the main target of this anti-democratic assault – which lost parliamentary representation for the first time in its history in 2021.
The party has been given vague assurances that it will be allowed to continue functioning; and in fact, it seldom uses newly ‘offending’ communist symbols, having dropped the hammer and sickle from its logo in favour of a pair of cherries.
But there are those in Fiala’s government who would like to see KSČM banned outright, and see the amendment as a stepping stone towards this goal. The KSČM has called out this intention in a defiant statement, where it has vowed that its political values are legitimate and it will not be silenced.
Our criticisms of KSČM are a matter of public record. We have raised our objections to the political errors that have led to its decline, including its opportunist alliance with right-wing, anti-worker parties. But we stand in full solidarity with KSČM in the face of attempted political repression by Fiala’s reactionary coalition.
We call on the entire left and all consistent democrats to defend the right to profess communist ideas in general, and the right of the Communist Party to exist.
The ruling class will not stop with KSČM. As the crisis intensifies, the state will intensify legal repression against anyone who challenges the status quo. An injury to one is an injury to all!
Amidst a deepening organic crisis of capitalism, and a growing mood of anger and dissatisfaction with the system, the ruling class is trying to silence all talk of alternatives.
In his interview with Epoch Times, Mejstřík further claimed that both Nazism and communism “demonstrably aim to suppress fundamental rights and freedoms, and it is logical and fair that Czech criminal law clearly reflects this. It is not about ideology, but about protecting a democratic rule of law.”
So we see, in order to preserve ‘fundamental rights, freedoms and the democratic rule of law’ it is necessary to attack the elementary democratic right of free speech!
Our ‘liberal’, ‘democratic’ politicians never tire of criticising political censorship under Stalinism. Yet in recent months, we have seen the Romanian presidential election annulled because Brussels did not like the outcome; widespread repression of the peaceful Palestine movement; terror charges brought against the Irish hip hop group Kneecap for their opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza; and now the censorship of communist ideas in ‘democratic’ Czechia!
The bourgeoisie evidently only tolerates opinions that do not threaten their profits, power and property relations. As Lenin said: “Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in the ancient Greek republics: freedom for the slave-owners.”
In Slovakia, a new repressive unit of ‘gendarmes’ is being created to assist the police in maintaining order. In the Czech Republic, they are trying to outlaw communism and intimidate radical class fighters with the prospect of jail time. None of this is a demonstration of strength, but of the weakness of a system that has hit rock bottom.
Capitalism is a never-ending horror. More and more people around the world are beginning to realise this. The hunger for alternatives to the current system is growing.
The pathetic official opposition in Czechia cannot defend our democratic rights. Their deputies could not even bring themselves to vote against this amendment, merely abstaining! Only the workers’ movement, embodying the will of the majority class in society, can mount a serious defence of our basic liberties.
If bourgeois ‘democracy’ means that workers cannot even consider changing the system, it is not democracy. It is the dictatorship of capital. True democracy is only possible where power is held by those who create all value and are the majority of society – the proletariat.
That is what we are striving for.
We are not intimidated by attempts at political censorship. Quite the opposite. Just a few hours after issuing our first statement about this amendment on social media, we received an influx of messages from young class fighters outraged by this anti-democratic attack and motivated to join us.
As long as a system exists that only breeds misery and death, ideas will flourish about a new society where working people can fully enjoy the fruits of their labour.
We call on all working people, left activists and youth to organise in defence of democratic freedoms. But true freedom will only come with the end of the exploitation of man by man. If you burn with indignation at the state of society, and the hypocrisy of our ruling class, we welcome you to join the struggle for communism in our lifetimes!
On Friday, 30 May, the Czech Chamber of Deputies approved an amendment to Section 403 of Czechia’s criminal code that could make the “promotion of communism” punishable by up to five years in prison. This scandalous attack on democratic rights cannot go unanswered. The labour movement must organise to defend free speech!
The law would put the “glorification of communist ideology” and sharing communist symbols on par with promoting Nazism. Therefore, publicly displaying the hammer and sickle would incur the same penalty as bearing swastikas under this amended law. And presumably, selling copies of the Communist Manifesto would be seen in the same light as distributing Mein Kampf!
Of 160 deputies present on Friday, 86 voted in favour of the amendment, including all deputies from the ruling coalition parties (bar one abstention). The agreed amendment will now have to be approved by the Senate and signed into law by the President, and could come into effect at the beginning of next year.
In the run-up to this vote, various anti-communist figures and ‘historical organisations’ lobbied the government to crack down on the spread of communist ideas. Kamil Nedvědický, Deputy Director of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, told a press conference last week:
It has been 30 years since the fall of the USSR. Last year, more wars were being waged than at any time since World War II, including the disastrous Ukraine War and Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians – both of which the Czech government has offered its full-throated support. Not to mention the millions who die annually as a result of poverty and repression.
We communists, who strive for an end to all this brutality, will accept no moral lectures about ‘violence’ from those who defend the capitalist system.
Meanwhile, Martin Mejstřík – one of the student leaders during the Velvet Revolution, which led to the restoration of capitalism in Czechoslovakia – has told Epoch Times:
We remind Mejstřík that some of the most heinous crimes of the Nazi regime were carried out on Czech soil. This new amendment is a grievous insult to the victims of fascism and the thousands of communist partisans who gave their lives fighting it. Not to mention the fact that the whole of Slovakia and 90 percent of Czech territory were liberated from the Nazis by the Soviet Army.
These are historical details that our ladies and gentlemen in government would like to erase.
Cynical distraction
In reality, this amendment is a cynical distraction by the ruling class at a time when its authority is crumbling and living conditions are declining. Fiala’s government entered into crisis last September following a battering in regional and senatorial elections, which saw the near break-up of the coalition.The intention is clearly to divert the masses’ attention from the government’s woes by whipping up anti-communist demagogy.
The Czech ruling class has chosen this moment in part because of the weakness of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) – the main target of this anti-democratic assault – which lost parliamentary representation for the first time in its history in 2021.
The party has been given vague assurances that it will be allowed to continue functioning; and in fact, it seldom uses newly ‘offending’ communist symbols, having dropped the hammer and sickle from its logo in favour of a pair of cherries.
But there are those in Fiala’s government who would like to see KSČM banned outright, and see the amendment as a stepping stone towards this goal. The KSČM has called out this intention in a defiant statement, where it has vowed that its political values are legitimate and it will not be silenced.
Our criticisms of KSČM are a matter of public record. We have raised our objections to the political errors that have led to its decline, including its opportunist alliance with right-wing, anti-worker parties. But we stand in full solidarity with KSČM in the face of attempted political repression by Fiala’s reactionary coalition.
We call on the entire left and all consistent democrats to defend the right to profess communist ideas in general, and the right of the Communist Party to exist.
The ruling class will not stop with KSČM. As the crisis intensifies, the state will intensify legal repression against anyone who challenges the status quo. An injury to one is an injury to all!
‘Defending democracy’ by attacking free speech?
According to a STEM survey last year, on the 35th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, only a minority of Czechs (48 percent) consider the current regime to be better than the one before 1989. This is an embarrassing indictment of the current state of affairs, given all the effort that has gone into demonising communism.Amidst a deepening organic crisis of capitalism, and a growing mood of anger and dissatisfaction with the system, the ruling class is trying to silence all talk of alternatives.
In his interview with Epoch Times, Mejstřík further claimed that both Nazism and communism “demonstrably aim to suppress fundamental rights and freedoms, and it is logical and fair that Czech criminal law clearly reflects this. It is not about ideology, but about protecting a democratic rule of law.”
So we see, in order to preserve ‘fundamental rights, freedoms and the democratic rule of law’ it is necessary to attack the elementary democratic right of free speech!
Our ‘liberal’, ‘democratic’ politicians never tire of criticising political censorship under Stalinism. Yet in recent months, we have seen the Romanian presidential election annulled because Brussels did not like the outcome; widespread repression of the peaceful Palestine movement; terror charges brought against the Irish hip hop group Kneecap for their opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza; and now the censorship of communist ideas in ‘democratic’ Czechia!
The bourgeoisie evidently only tolerates opinions that do not threaten their profits, power and property relations. As Lenin said: “Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in the ancient Greek republics: freedom for the slave-owners.”
They will not silence us!
The ruling class constantly shouts that communism is dead. But if it is dead, why do the capitalists need to introduce such laws like the one that has just been approved in the Chamber of Deputies?In Slovakia, a new repressive unit of ‘gendarmes’ is being created to assist the police in maintaining order. In the Czech Republic, they are trying to outlaw communism and intimidate radical class fighters with the prospect of jail time. None of this is a demonstration of strength, but of the weakness of a system that has hit rock bottom.
Capitalism is a never-ending horror. More and more people around the world are beginning to realise this. The hunger for alternatives to the current system is growing.
The pathetic official opposition in Czechia cannot defend our democratic rights. Their deputies could not even bring themselves to vote against this amendment, merely abstaining! Only the workers’ movement, embodying the will of the majority class in society, can mount a serious defence of our basic liberties.
If bourgeois ‘democracy’ means that workers cannot even consider changing the system, it is not democracy. It is the dictatorship of capital. True democracy is only possible where power is held by those who create all value and are the majority of society – the proletariat.
That is what we are striving for.
We are not intimidated by attempts at political censorship. Quite the opposite. Just a few hours after issuing our first statement about this amendment on social media, we received an influx of messages from young class fighters outraged by this anti-democratic attack and motivated to join us.
As long as a system exists that only breeds misery and death, ideas will flourish about a new society where working people can fully enjoy the fruits of their labour.
We call on all working people, left activists and youth to organise in defence of democratic freedoms. But true freedom will only come with the end of the exploitation of man by man. If you burn with indignation at the state of society, and the hypocrisy of our ruling class, we welcome you to join the struggle for communism in our lifetimes!
