The Czech Republic has officially criminalized the promotion of communist movements that suppress human rights, putting them on the same legal footing as Nazi movements.
The amendment, signed by President Peter Pavel, specifically targets anyone who establishes, supports or promotes Nazi, communist or other movements that seek to suppress fundamental freedoms or incite racial, ethnic, religious, national or class hatred.
Offenders face prison sentences ranging from one to five years, with additional provisions relating to the dissemination of extremist propaganda and symbols.
The legislation follows decades of debate over the country's communist past. Czechoslovakia endured more than four decades of one-party communist rule, beginning in 1948 and ending with the peaceful Velvet Revolution in 1989. Supporters, including historians from the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, argued that communist totalitarianism should be treated no less seriously than Nazism under the criminal law.