PM criticises make-up of new academic council of agency overseeing Communist-era files

Prime Minister Petr Nečas has criticised the composition of the freshly appointed academic council of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. The leader of the right-wing Civic Democrats says it includes former long-term members of the Communist Party and opponents of the very creation of the institution, which oversees secret police files and other documents from the Communist era. The previous academic council stood down in protest at the dismissal of the state agency’s director by its now left-controlled board. Critics of the former management of the Institute say it should explore the broader history of the Communist period and not just focus on the security services.