Hradec Králové – The Regional Court in Hradec Králové will today deal with the rehabilitation of priest Josef Toufar, who was tortured in 1950 by members of the communist State Security (StB). The court will deal with Toufar’s rehabilitation for his illegal detention prosecution. Toufar’s name is connected with the so-called Čihošť miracle.
Priest Toufar became perhaps the most famous victim of the communist campaign against the church. He died in February 1950 after severe torture in custody. A parish priest from the village of Číhošť in the Havlíčkobrod region became involved in the StB after the cross on the main altar allegedly moved several times during mass in his church in December 1949. The still unexplained phenomenon is said to have been repeated later.
The proposal for Toufar’s judicial rehabilitation was submitted by the regional prosecutor. The initiative for rehabilitation proceedings was prepared by lawyer Lubomír Müller, who specializes in representing and rehabilitating people oppressed by the communist regime. The initiative was initiated by the founder of the Brno Museum of Czech and Slovak Exile of the 20th Century, Jan Kratochvíl.
Since Toufar died during the investigation and his trial was not held, according to the lawyer, the question of whether he was taken into custody justifiably, or whether he meets the requirements to be legally cleared and his participation in judicial rehabilitation, is still legally unresolved.
The communists decided to use the events of the so-called Čihošť miracle to discredit the church, which they saw as an obstacle on the way to the collectivization of the countryside. The StB arrested Toufar in January 1950 and then tried to force him to confess that he had staged the movement of the cross in the Valdice prison in Jičín. The regime also had a propaganda film made about the alleged plot. The StB presented the alleged hoist in the documentary, but as it later turned out, none of the mechanisms either could work or would be clearly visible on the altar. The StB also used the case to prosecute church officials.
CR church court history Toufar rehabilitation communism
Source: www.ceskenoviny.cz
