PURGE
By Robert Black
1969Robert BlackEastern Europe Read the scan at ETOL (PDF) →Read from the scan by machine and not corrected: headlines and words can be misread, and a caption or advert can run into the text. For anything you quote, read the scan.
CETEKA, the Czechoslovak news agency, announced on Wednesday that Josef Smrkovsky, leading Czech 'liberal' and righthand man of former party secretary Alexander Dubcek had been removed from his post as chairman of one of the two Czech houses of parliament.
It was also forceast that Dubcek would be removed from his parliamentary post.
When this happens, Dubcek's sole remaining post will be as a member of the 135man central committee.
New law These latest measures continue the thorough-going purge of 'liberals' embarked on by the Soviet occupation forces with the co-operation of hard-line Czech Stalinists.
It follows the passing of a new law which provides for the dismissal and replacement of elected members of parliament without the agreement of the voters who elected them.
Any rights which Czech workers may have won during the 'liberalization' period before the Soviet invasion are being, brutally stamped out by the Soviet bureaucracy through puppets like Husak.