In former Czechoslovakia, State Security (Czech: Státní bezpečnost, Slovak: Štátna bezpečnosť) or StB / ŠtB, was a plainclothes secret (political) police force from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990. Serving as an intelligence and counter-intelligence agency, it dealt with any activity that could possibly be considered anti-communist.

History[link]

Letter opener used by StB

From its establishment on June 30, 1945, onward, the StB was bound to and controlled by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The communists used the StB as an instrument of power and repression: the StB spied on and intimidated political opponents of the Party and forged false criminal evidence against them, facilitating the Communists rise to power in 1948. Even then, before Czechoslovakia became a communist state, the StB used forcing confessions by means of torture, including the use of drugs, blackmail and kidnapping. After the coup d'état of 1948, these practices developed under the tutelage of Soviet advisors^{[citation needed]}. Other common practices included telephone tapping, permanent watching of apartments, reading mail, house searches, surveillance, arrests and indictment for so-called "subversion of the republic".^[1]

The StB's part in the fall of the regime in 1989 is still uncertain. The reported murder of a student by police in action against a peaceful demonstration in November 1989 was the catalyst for wider public support and further demonstrations, leading to the overthrow of the communist regime. The StB were alleged to have used an StB agent, Ludvík Zifčák, as the dead student Martin Šmíd. This was based mainly on Zifčák's testimony. However, in 1992, the Czechoslovak parliamentary commission for investigation of events of November 17, 1989 has ruled out this version, stating that "the role of former StB lieutenant L. Zifčák was only marginal, without any connection to critical events and without any active effort to influence these events. Investigation of related circumstances has indisputably proved that L. Zifčák's testimony that attributes a key role in November's events to himself is based on facts, which are either technically impossible and infeasible, or contradict actions of persons mentioned by him, which aimed to completely different goals."^[2]

State Security was dissolved on February 1, 1990. The current intelligence agency of the Czech Republic is the Security Information Service, although it is not a successor to StB. The former associates of the StB are currently banned from taking certain jobs, such as legislators or policemen.

The Act on Lawlessness of the Communist Regime and on Resistance Against It states that StB, as an organisation based on the ideology of the Communist Party, was "aimed to suppress human rights and democracy through its activities" and thus based on a criminal ideology.^[3]

Organization within the Czechoslovak government[link]

The State Security was a part of the National Security Corps (Czech: Sbor národní bezpečnosti, SNB; Slovak: Zbor národnej bezpečnosti, ZNB) along with Public Security (Czech: Veřejná bezpečnost, VB; Slovak: Verejná bezpečnosť, VB) – a uniformed force that performed standard police duties. Both forces worked at regional and district levels, supervised by the Ministries of the Interior of the Czech and Slovak Socialist Republics, but operationally directed by the federal Ministry of Interior.

Memorable people[link]

• Alfred Frenzel, who infiltrated West Germany during the 1950s.
• Karl Koecher, who infiltrated the CIA in the 1970s.
• Josef Frolik, who defected to the West in the 1960s.
• Pavel Minařík, who infiltrated Radio Free Europe headquarters in Munich and planned a bomb attack.

See also[link]

• Veřejná bezpečnost
• Eastern Bloc politics
• Domeček

References[link]

External links[link]

• Library of Congress country study of Czechoslovakia
• Nation's Memory Institute Slovak Republic

Petr Cibulka (October 27, 1950 in Brno, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech politician and former dissident.

As one of signatories of Charter 77 Cibulka was repeatedly imprisoned for various fabricated offenses and spent a total of 5 years in prison before the Velvet revolution in 1989. During the Velvet revolution he was arrested and put in prison again but was released as the crowds gathered in front of the prison he was held in and demanded that he be freed.

Cibulka lists[link]

In early 1990s he published a list of agents and collaborators of the Czechoslovak secret police StB, since then known as "Cibulka lists" ("Cibulkovy seznamy"). Until this time, this information had been kept secret and occasionally used as a way to discredit political opponents. The main opponent of publication was Václav Havel - then president of the country and a friend of Cibulka. There was a very public exchange of opinions ("Vašku ty jsi prase!", "Václav, you are a pig!"), which effectively ended their friendship. The lists eventually contained tens of thousands of people with various ties to secret services. An electronic form with an easy search function was added later.

Years later, in 2003, similar though much shorter lists were published officially by the Czech government and the very few personal files kept by the StB were made public.

Several public personalities (for example the actress Jiřina Bohdalová) sued the government, because they were unjustifiably included in the "informers files" - and some of them won their cases.^{[citation needed]}

Other activities[link]

Cibulka is publisher of the online political journal "UNCENSORED NEWS" ^[1] ("NECENZUROVANÉ NOVINY", the usage of uppercase letters is intentional and used frequently throughout his texts).

Cibulka is founder and leader of a tiny political party "The Right Bloc" ("Pravý blok"). The complete name of the party, as it appears on election ballots in 2008, is^[2]:

Volte Pravý Blok - stranu za snadnou a rychlou ODVOLATELNOST politiků a státních úředníků přímo občany, za NÍZKÉ daně, VYROVNANÝ rozpočet, MINIMALIZACI byrokracie, SPRAVEDLIVOU a NEZKORUMPOVANOU policii a justici, REFERENDA a PŘÍMOU demokracii WWW.CIBULKA.NET, kandidující s nejlepším protikriminálním programem PŘÍMÉ demokracie VY NEVĚŘÍTE POLITIKŮM A JEJICH NOVINÁŘŮM? NO KONEČNĚ! VĚŘME SAMI SOBĚ!!! - ale i s mnoha dalšími DŮVODY, proč bychom měli jít tentokrát VŠICHNI k volbám, ale - pokud nechceme být ZNOVU obelháni, podvedeni a okradeni - NEVOLIT žádnou parlamentní stranu vládnoucí (post) komunistické kriminální fízlokracie!!! – jenž žádá o volební podporu všechny české občany a daňové poplatníky, kteří chtějí změnit dnešní kriminální poměry, jejichž jsme všichni obětí, v jejich pravý opak! V BOJI MEZI DOBREM A ZLEM, PRAVDOU A LŽÍ, NELZE BÝT NEUTRÁLNÍ A PŘESTO ZŮSTAT SLUŠNÝ!!! Proto děkujeme za Vaši podporu!!! byla založena pod původním názvem Pravý Blok již v r.1996 poté, co politicky, programově i lidsky totálně selhala vedoucí politická reprezentace tehdejší uměle založené a vždy spolehlivě kontrolované pseudopravicové Demokratické unie, stojící na dávno překonaných principech "demokratického centralismu", prázdných ideologiích a zejména na nedůvěře ve schopnosti svobodné a zodpovědné lidské bytosti vládnout sama sobě.

Literal translation of the name into English (formatted as bullet list):

Vote for the Right Bloc

• - the party for the easy and fast RECALL of politicians and state officials directly by the citizens, for LOW taxes, a BALANCED budget, the MINIMIZATION of bureaucracy, a JUST and UNCORRUPT police force and legal system, PUBLIC REFERENDA and DIRECT democracy WWW.CIBULKA.NET, campaigning with the best anti-criminal program of DIRECT democracy
• YOU DON'T TRUST THE POLITICIANS AND THEIR JOURNALISTS? AT LAST! LET'S TRUST IN OURSELVES!!!
• - but even with many other REASONS why we should ALL go to vote this time, but - unless we want to be deceived, cheated and robbed AGAIN - DON'T VOTE for any of the ruling parliamentary parties of this (post)-Communist criminal "cop"-ocracy!!!
• - which asks for electoral support from all Czech citizens and taxpayers who want to change the current criminal situation of which we are all victims into its polar opposite.
• IN THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL, TRUTH AND LIES, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE NEUTRAL AND STILL REMAIN RESPECTABLE!!! For this reason we thank you for your help!!!
• was originally established under the name "The Right Bloc" already in 1996 after witnessing the complete political, programmatic and humanistic failure of the then-ruling political representation, artificially-founded and forever reliably controlled by the pseudo-right Democratic Union party, standing in the name of long-since established principles of "democratic centralism" empty ideologies and namely the distrust in the ability of the free and responsible human being to rule one's own self.

Cibulka argues that the information blockade by the Czech media necessitated the use of this name to deliver his program to the public.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Texts in Czech language:

• Biography, written by Cibulka
• Online Cibulka lists, with searching
• The party website

Other links in English:

• Dissident voices, by J.R. Nyquist, WorldNetDaily, February 26, 2001
• Dissident voices again, by J.R. Nyquist, WorldNetDaily, August 23, 2001
• Operation Wedge: Something the CIA left in the trash
• Communism is not dead! The Petr Cibulka interview, by J.R. Nyquist
• In Eastern Europe Things Are Not What They Seem: An interview with Petr Cibulka, by Jan Malina, 10 March 2003
• August 2003 Interview with Petr Cibulka, Questions posed by Jan Malina. Translation by Jan Malina
• The Great Deception: An Interview With Petr Cibulka, Part I, by Jan Malina, 16 August 2004
• The Great Deception: An Interview With Petr Cibulka, Part II, 30 August 2004
• PART I, Petr Cibulka Interview, Spring 2005, by Jan Malina. Edited by J.R. Nyquist
• PART II, Petr Cibulka Interview, Spring 2005
• PART III, Petr Cibulka Interview, Spring 2005
• PART IV, Petr Cibulka Interview, Spring 2005