Bolshevik Inquisition – Part II
Hucin Speaks Out

 By Hana Catalanova
hana.catalanova@worldonline.cz

 

     On 2/28 Vladimir Hucin was released from jail. On this last day of February he received the completely unexpected news of release just after lunch, and after 2 p.m. he was already standing outside the Olomouc prison gates.

     His first steps led straight to Mrs. Masin´s home in Olomouc. Mrs. Zdenka Masin is the sister of Masin brothers Josef and Ctirad who are till this very day still officially denied the hero status of the Third Czechoslovak Resistance Movement.

     Last Saturday (March 9th) Vladimir Hucin personally answered the questions forwarded to him by Jeff R. Nyquist.

     Vladimir Hucin would also like to take this opportunity to express his gratitude and thanks for all those nice words of support delivered to him while being held in prison from supporters from all parts of the world. The many cards and letters he received kept his mind positively tuned to his fight and were a great moral support for him.

     The term of the next court hearing is not known yet, but we can almost certainly predict that this will not take place before the coming elections. Hucin´s allegations that the "former" communist and StB structures still operate in the Czech state administration are not a hoax – which is paradoxically one of the criminal charges pressed against Hucin – but a sheer reality well known to the general public.

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Question & Answer

JRN: At your hearing you spoke of the "penetration of the state administration" by communist structures. Since Communism has supposedly collapsed, since the totalitarian state was allegedly dismantled, what exactly are these communist structures and what do we know about their function?

HUCIN: Well, above all I used to draw attention to those people who were in the past considerably involved in supporting the communist regime, in the security structures spheres, and who today operate in even more prominent posts than before. This means they have the deciding power in these spheres.

If I would, for example, speak in district scale, then the Chief of district police is a person who used to be in contact with the KGB, he is the one who took part in interrogation methods of the former State security (StB), and was himself a member of the Czechoslovak Communist Party (KSC) Presidium, and even was a chairman of the KSC Committee. He was also engaged in various intelligence operations against the so called "class enemy." So, people like him are today given an opportunity to have a decisive power regarding security issues. This is, I think, extremely dangerous for the present system because security is actually in the hands of the former regime's structures. NATO, by its present involvement with such structures, is maximally endangered, and therefore I am of the opinion that all security clearances should be very thorough, and NATO should create a certain mechanism which could be soundly applied on these people, and it should also investigate whether any particular person is fit to fill any strategic and security position. Then a responsible team should confront the results of such an investigation, noting the risks which the presence of such people in such positions would bring along.

     I was, in this respect, trying to participate in these security clearances and I brought in a lot of evidence, also in connection with my case – my rehabilitations from the past.

JRN: Is there any evidence that communist structures operating behind the scene today were purposely set in place before the Velvet Revolution? And do you think there could be a long range strategic plan guiding these structures?

  HUCIN: In 1990 I was a chairman of so called Civic commissions. I was elected there by the Civic Forum which was a political grouping representing to a certain degree a political concept in the country after the major role of the Czechoslovak Communist Party (KSC) had been dissolved. As a chairman of these Civic commissions I came across certain materials which were clear evidence of who, where and what was formerly involved. I was trying to save many of these documents. I was not always successful, though, but for example, only among the signatories of the Charter 77, where I also belonged, one Tomas Hradilek, who later became a minister of the Czech republic, personally ordered me not to save these documents from destruction. And yet, these documents could prove many people as collaborators or cooperators of the State security (StB) and security bodies as such. So even signatories of Charter 77 were later exposed as important StB agents. Including – among others – Dr. Josef Danisz, a lawyer who personally contacted me, and who was also involved with Civic Forum. He was proved to be an StB agent.

People like these were, from the beginning, creating a certain space for themselves and for those who were protected by the destruction of compromising materials. The aim was to create a favorable environment to weather out the main wave, and by creating some kind of fog over the facts they were trying to prevent these facts from coming out to the open in the future.

JRN: Do you think the Czech republic is unique in the persistence of controlling communist sub-structures (or mafias), or could this be part of a larger pattern of communist adaptation, organized prior to 1989, involving directives from Moscow?

HUCIN: The leadership of State Security (StB) was given to General Alois Lorenc – a very clever man, a type of chess player – who knew that the "fossilized" core, the old communist core, with Jakes and others, is not able to further promote its ideological clichés. The intelligent part of StB represented by young and progressive garniture started to work in a direction of creating some kind of a transition. The situation did not permit them to call the Russian tanks again in order to "save the country" as happened in 1968. So after the negotiations which had to be held outside of our republic, it was agreed that the pragmatists together with analysts from the planning institutions would create a concept aimed to secure the transition of pragmatic communists who no longer strived to emphasize the hammer and sickle (Russian symbols), who knew very well that economy is a fundamental issue which they have to firmly keep hold of – even if in a different form.

This means that a comrade director of some factory finally became Mr. Big Capitalist who through this painless transition became the chief of much larger group of companies, and who together with the others had the opportunity to form some kind of Trust which shortly became the driving force, and decided which people to employ, and which to leave unemployed. An ordinary citizen who only rattled with the keys during the "Velvet Revolution," and who fantasized about removing all these people from the political and economic spheres, did not have a chance whatsoever.

But the beginning appeared very ideal, enthusiastic and spontaneous, all those students and everything, that even I have to admit it fooled me for a while. But because I used to fight them [the communists] before, in a counter-intelligence manner, it did not take me long to find out it was all a bit different. And when I joined BIS [the Czech Security and Intelligence Service], to my horror I realized this to be all completely different (!) and I carefully started filling the puzzle.

This November event was one of my major tasks, and I tried to complete as detailed a picture as possible. And how I ended up we all know. After ten years of work I was dismissed from BIS and imprisoned.

JRN: What threat do clandestine communist structures in the Czech republic pose to NATO? What are the implications for the European Union?

HUCIN: As for NATO and the security issue, I think that representatives of this organization are being very naïve, and that they should create some kind of mechanism which would serve to verify certain matters from another point of view, quite independently of how these are presented to them today -- "on a silver platter." Really, there are people in the General Staff of the armed forces and in the security structures who I had great disputes with. Also among the counter-intelligence personnel there are many who in the past held various important communist posts, and are therefore absolutely untrustworthy. It has to be said that this service is also infiltrated by former agents of the Slovak intelligence service who are just waiting for a favorable situation.

Personally, I do not want to "paint a devil on the wall," but those security clearances that I know of and I am able to provide the evidence about, were all completely insufficient, and this was intentional, and those who got such clearances by no means offer any guarantees. This would have to be specifically substantiated by some documents, so whoever is interested in this matter could form an objective view.

JRN: In America we are told that "nobody in Eastern Europe believes in Communism today." We are told that the socialist experiment in the former Warsaw Pact countries was a dismal failure, that even the communists admit their plans and ideas were nonsense. Is this really true, and if not, please explain what it means to be a communist today in the Czech republic or other former Soviet satellite countries.

HUCIN: Most communists who today form the backbone of the communist party called KSCM, which took over the legacy of the former Czechoslovak Communist Party (KSC), are the original ones. They are those who formed this backbone even before. Of course, some younger ones had also joined their platform since. Personally I was working on the problem of the extreme left wing movement in northern Moravia region where there is high unemployment. If there is unemployment, there is also a considerable social tension creating a certain hot-bed for these extreme leftist ideologies.

I investigated this, and the evidence I brought forward proves that there is a real need to monitor these activities because in areas of high unemployment there is the danger of an unwanted malignant growth. Such a growth has already begun in the regions of Bruntal and Karvina, where the last elections showed important gains for the Communist Party.

I think that in such localities, with the existing social tension, we are going to witness a considerable success of communists in the coming elections. But I do not want to make any forecasts. Communist ideology persists here, and expert manipulators are able to feed this ideology drop by drop to the unemployed and to those who cannot form their own firm opinions. Communists know how to use the people's hardship to their own advantage. They know how to infiltrate discontented groups, and by doing so they influence voting preferences. Let us just wait and see. But I fear the communists are going to be successful in the localities with the higher unemployment levels. So, this ideology is a constant danger, and certain security forces should exist to keep monitoring this problem.

In the case of KSCM we are talking about a Czech official parliamentary political party [!], and we should keep emphasizing its dangerous ideology which is not to be underestimated.

JRN: What is the standing of your case now? Will the state take further actions against you?

HUCIN: After spending the whole year in jail, I was suddenly released. The trial is pending, and certain issues not known to the public are coming out of the dark. Well, it is much better when one is free and can defend himself in an open forum. But it is very important that the public be present during the whole process. Certain facts are going to be confronted there, and these can greatly influence public opinion and can also send a chill through those who initiated my imprisonment. For those who organized the whole thing are the followers of communist ideology and hide themselves behind the colors of today's democracy. But basically they work for the former eastern KGB structures with the aim of paralyzing the danger I had caused them with my investigations.

I was directly involved in fighting against the KGB and its influences. Already, in 1983, I exposed KGB agent Antonin Mikes. His file has been declassified already, and the final judgment was affirmed by the Highest Court of Justice. Well, I exposed the agent but I have enjoyed unpleasant attention ever since.

  JRN: Why did the communists let you out of jail, and do you think they have a plan to discredit you now that you are free?

HUCIN: I think they chose the lesser of two evils. It is a fact that people started to get involved, various activities in my support were happening in many places, and these activities were growing in numbers.

The initial criminal charge against me concerning an act of terrorism – the organizing of bomb attacks not solved till this day. This was very suspicious even to a common citizen who has no knowledge of this matter at all. With a little exaggeration I would compare the whole thing to the Reichstag fire, where the Nazis themselves set the building on fire so they could accuse their opponents. The bomb attacks were a professional intelligence operation of the former communist structures. And I aim to prove this. It is linked with the present security bureaucracy which holds sway over today's security services in the country. But it is all a matter of time, and I therefore need the public to be present during the hearings so everything becomes as transparent as possible.

JRN: Why didn't Vaclav Havel intervene in your case? Is this supposed champion of human rights a fraud and a secret creature of the communist structures in your country?

HUCIN: I will give a straight answer to this. He was acquainted with my file which is handled as "classified." There is a lot of evidence of phone tapping in this file – phone calls from the official car, from my flat and from my office. In many such calls I criticize some of the Charter 77 signatories, and I accuse them and Vaclav Havel of a certain conspiracy, of making a deal with communists in relation to November 17th and later developments. I also mentioned [in my tapped phone conversations] some facts about the very event of November 17th. Well, after reading my views about Charter 77, and after viewing my evidence of the fact that many of the Charter 77 signatories were in fact agents of State Security (StB), he of course couldn't take any positive stand in my favor. I also mentioned Miroslav Dolejsi who I served a jail sentence with in Minkovice, the author of "Analysis of 17th December." To a certain degree I admit that this Dolejsi is right about certain issues. I cannot agree with him completely, though. We used to talk a lot while in prison. So even this is well documented in my file. And when all this was shown to president Havel, it stands to reason he would not really welcome my release from jail.

But I can give him credit for granting a presidential pardon to my mother. If it was not for that, my mother would become the oldest terrorist in the country. They led me to believe she was held in custody in Ruzyne prison, so I was very glad to learn she had received the pardon.  

JRN: How were you treated in prison?

HUCIN: In the beginning, the pressure against me was considerable, the interrogations were carried out in a very provoking manner. This was particularly evident among the group of investigators headed by Vaclav Jakubik, who is in the high post of Secretary of the Presidential Police. He is in charge of an anti-terrorist unit and of other special forces. Members of these units therefore put great pressure on me. During my detention they used violence, threats and numerous insults. There was a lot of this.

But I can say that some prison guards were helpful, as if they understood what it was it all about. Of course, there were some exceptions among the older guards who used to be in the same jobs in times of the former regime. These guards were very unfriendly towards me, to say the least.

Generally speaking, though, there is a notable difference between jail under the present system and the old system. It used to be much tougher then. Today there is a chance to listen to the radio and follow the news in a daily newspaper. But it was very depressing for me when I was placed in that psychiatric hospital, because this was really degrading; a very degrading position for two long months. I made it through, though, I survived it, and I was found completely normal. They even "discovered" additional positive things about me, so I am not being charged with those bomb attacks now. They tried very hard to make me reveal where I hid the archives, documents, names and codes of people who used to work for me. Their efforts were not successful, and this was the reason why I was actually placed in the prison psychiatric hospital. Initially they wanted to put me on a lie detector, but my lawyer advised me not to comply with that. I also watched very carefully what I ate and drank.

The Olomouc prison is a little tougher than the prison in Pankrac, and I always said to myself that the closer to the eastern border you get, the worse it becomes. Well, I am saying this more or less jokingly.

 JRN: Where do you think the Czech Republic is headed? (considering the present power structures.)

HUCIN: Well, in the present time I keep noticing a growing influence of a certain organization calling itself "The Club of the Czech Borders" (Klub ceskeho pohranici -- KCP).

This organization, with such a name, gathers within itself those who do not agree with the abolition of the Decrees signed by former President Benes. But it is positively an StB and communist organization which is lately receiving a growing support among the people. I think that we are going to hear about this organization very soon because its views are getting more and more radical, and in the regions of a considerable unemployment this can lead to a critical development. The organization is also supported by various labor unions which assume the right to make decisions on behalf of ordinary citizens. What we have here is a certain intelligence "play" performed by communists who hide in new "coats," through a process of mimicry, and attract those living in a social hardship.

[About the future of the country] It is hard to say. If the dissatisfaction and tension grows, and security clearances continue to be granted to former hardliners and other KGB collaborators, then it is only right to say that the Czech Republic would not be a substantial asset for NATO, not to mention any other partnership. I am afraid of the possibility that this extremism could one day reach such dimensions that it might become a tremendous security risk [for NATO]. I see it in this light. I do not have any political ideas yet. We can discuss this after the election. I only fear the communists will score well.

  JRN: Thank you Mr. Vladimir Hucin.

In Prerov, March 9th, 2002  

Continue to Part III