Family to be receive 500,000 in damages for injustices suffered

The Brno regional court has ruled that a Czech family will receive 500,000 crowns in compensation for state repression the family suffered under Czechoslovakia’s Communist regime. In 1973, Karel Kořínek and his wife Jindřiška, were persecuted by the state for their religious and political beliefs. As a result they were sent to a psychiatric ward for a time. Although they were later released, the couple lost custody of their four children - three of whom grew up in orphanages (the fourth was raised by a relative). The four surviving family members will receive 125,000 crowns each and the country’s justice ministry has been ordered to apologise. The Kořínek family first filed their complaint in 1992 and had been asking for compensation of nine million crowns (the equivalent of around 500,000 US dollars). Judge Michal Ryška, who took over the case only recently, said it was “shameful” the family had had to wait 17 years for a verdict.