Milan Paumer to get prime minister’s medal

Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek is to present the anti-communist fighter Milan Paumer with a prime minister’s medal on Tuesday. Mr. Paumer together with the Mašín brothers, whom the prime minister decorated in Washington last week, were engaged in subversive actions against the communist regime in the hardline 1950s and eventually escaped to the West killing six people in the process. The prime minister’s decision to decorate them has caused enormous controversy since the public is divided over their actions – some consider them heroes, others murderers. Previous efforts by members of the Senate to get them state distinctions did not garner sufficient support.