For a Fair Public Trial of Vladimir Hucin

International Online Petition
For a Fair Public Trial of Vladimir Hucin
From Czech translated by Hana Catalanova

To:
The President of the Czech Republic
The Minister of Justice
The President of the Constitutional Court
The Members of both Chambers of Parliament
The Parliamentary Petition Committee

December 18, 2003

The Constitution of the Czech Republic, Art. 96 Par. 2, and The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Art. 38 Par. 2, not to mention the international conventions and agreements to which the Czech Republic (CR) committed itself, declare the principles of court proceedings i.e. oral and public hearings. As a part of civil procedure in civic society, a public hearing monitors the legal system of a country and thereby helps to prevent abuses.

The right to a public hearing is still, till this very day, by judicial decision, denied to Vladimir Hucin.

The shameful Hucin case is well known even beyond the Czech borders. In terms of the prosecution of Hucin, a closed hearing should not apply (Civil procedure code, 116, and Criminal procedure code, 200), and this is what we are witnessing now. The public can only be excluded if the hearing clearly jeopardizes state, commercial or official secrets, important interests of parties to the case, or the dignified course of the hearing. Nothing from the above applies in the Hucin case, especially if we want to build a healthy democratic society free from secret communist structures (and these, to be sure, continue to pervade the Czech state).

Under these generally known circumstances, a public hearing would, on the contrary, serve the public interest in cleansing the state. And it would prevent the return to totalitarianism in the future.

Vladimir Hucin is not, as it is known, bound by any professional secret; BIS released him from the obligation to maintain confidentiality.

Therefore we urge the President and the government of the Czech Republic to observe human rights as we stand on the threshold of EU membership. The Czech people cannot and must not try anyone behind closed doors without the presence of the public and journalists. A closed hearing in this case is unacceptable in the eyes of the European Union's own laws. For those who respect democracy, it painfully reminds us of the years of communism and terror.

The signatories below thank you for your support in protecting fundamental human rights and for a public trial in the case of political prisoner Vladimir Hucin.