Prague court finds four former communist secret service men guilty of harassing dissidents

A Prague court has found four former members of the communist secret police (StB) guilty of harassing dissidents and forcing them to emigrate within an operation code-named Asanace. Two of the suspects, Karel Hájek and Rudolf Peltan, received two-year suspended sentences. The other two  Zbyněk Dudek and Jiří Šimák, escaped further punishment, since they have both served unconditional sentences of 3.5 years in prison for torturing opponents of the communist regime. The verdict is not legally binding and may still be appealed.