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Spy witness
The StB gathered comments on 62-year-old former dissident Petr Uhl, some of which have been destroyed.
Radek Schovanek put in a request with the Interior Ministry Sept. 16, 2002, to view the files of Czechoslovak secret police (StB) collaborators.
He is still waiting for a reply.
Schovanek should have received a response within 90 days under a 2002 law that covers public access to the files. He said there are hundreds of people who have made such requests in the last two years. "Not a single one of them was answered within 90 days," he said. Schovanek and others are pushing for a nongovernmental organization or newly created state institution to oversee the StB files that embody the faceless terror of totalitarian rule. They say the Interior Ministry's inadequate handling of the files prevents Czechs from fully comprehending -- and thus coming to terms with -- the past half-century.
· Czechs from Coming to Terms with Past: It is unbelievable. These requests are from victims of the regime, and now they are being victimized all over again [ courtesy of Irresolute Rule: There is a complete Lack of Political Leadership in the developed world today ]
· Meciar amateur boxer; Shameless Professional: Corruption remains rampant, according to a Transparency International Slovakia report released Feb. 3. 2004