Statement by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
The CPRF as other progressives in our country have repeatedly taken a stand against the political repression of the leaders and activists of the communist-workers parties in a number of former Socialist countries in Eastern Europe.
At the present time there is a plan to initiate a political show trial in Slovakia. The district court of Bratislava will hear submissions against a well-known activist of the Czechoslovak Communist Party and of the international communist movement, anti-fascist Vasyl Bilak. The accused faces a life sentence.
Now the eighty-four years old patriot will be tried because he dedicated his entire life to the struggle against German and home-grown fascism, for socialism and the blossoming of his homeland, the former CSSR. As one of the leaders of former CC of CP of CSSR, Bilak made a substantial contribution towards transforming agrarian Slovakia into a highly developed industrial-agrarian republic.
The case against Vasyl Bilak is the outcrop of a shameless anti-communist psychosis which afflicts the current Slovak government leadership.
We demand an end to the persecution of this patriot and comrade. We appeal to international public opinion to come to the defense of Vasyl Bilak.
Please send your protests to the following:
Ministerstvo spravodlivosti SR
Zupne nameste c. 13
Bratislava
Slovak RepublicKrajska Prokuratura Bratislava
Vajnorska c. 47
Bratislava
Slovak RepublicFascism Shall Not Pass!
The following letters were sent to the Slovak Government in Bratislava from the Editorial Board of NSC and from the Executive Committee of the International Council. We urge all readers and organizations to do likewise in defending Vasyl Bilak.
February 14, 2000
We, the undersigned, on behalf of the Editorial Board of Northstar Compass, strongly protest the preparation of a trial against Vasyl Bilak, formerly a Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and a leading member of the Czechoslovak Government.
We feel that this upcoming trial will be wholly biased and politically motivated regarding the facts and the hysteria that is being built up in Slovakia. This trial has shades of the trial that is being perpetrated against President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia.
There is absolutely no proof of treachery, wrongdoing or traitorous acts of which Vasyl Bilak is accused of. The trumped-up charge it seems stems from the 1968 events in CSSR. The decision of the then government of Czechoslovakia was in accordance with the signed Mutual Treaty between Czechoslovakia and the members of the Warsaw Pact countries, a legally constituted forum which was recognized by not only by NATO, but also by the United Nations Organization.
Therefore, to stage this Kangaroo Court Trial farce in Bratislava is illegal by all standards of the UN Charter and therefore, Slovak jurisdiction is invalid and illegal.
On behalf of the Editorial Board of Northstar Compass and the Executive Committee of the International Council for Friendship and Solidarity with Soviet People
Michael Lucas, Editor and Chairman
George Gruenthal, International Secretary
Dr. Adelard Paquin, Secretary
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