Victims of communist regime commemorated in Prague

Prague, Feb 24 (CTK) - A group of Czechs yesterday led a ceremony at a memorial to victims of communist regimes on the eve of the 63rd anniversary of the Czechoslovak communist coup.

Jiri Cieslar, one of the organisers of the ceremony, called for the abolishing of the Communist Party (KSCM).

More than 73,000 people signed a petition organised by Cieslar, demanding that the KSCM be banned.

Defence Minister Alexandr Vondra decorated four late members of the resistance group of the Masin Brothers, Czech Television (CT) reported.

The group tried to paralyse the communist regime by sabotages and three of its members managed to fight their way over the guarded border to West Germany. The remaining three members were caught and executed.

Czech parliament is now discussing a bill on the resistance movement against the communist regime, under which the resistance fighters would have the status of war veterans.

I believe it is crucial to pass this law. Our nation has few heroes and we should learn to respect them," Vondra told CT.

KSCM MPs strongly protested against the bill, challenging the integrity of the resistance fighters, among others.