Communists in Vsetín have unveiled the statue of Julius Fučík again, the region has approved it

Vsetín - Today, communists unveiled a statue of the communist journalist and writer Julius Fučík in Vsetín in front of the district committee of the KSČM. The statue was unveiled two years ago, but the city of Vsetín disagreed with its placement and did not allow it. According to the city hall, the placement was in conflict with the requirements of the law on state heritage protection. The communists had to remove the statue. However, this September, they received a positive opinion from the Zlin regional office, which changed the position of the Vsetín municipal office and allowed the statue's placement.

"The regional office stated that the local authority acted illegally and in violation of our constitutional rights, so we are permitted," said Roman Ramach, chairman of the Zlin regional committee of the KSČM, today in Vsetín to CTK and Czech Television.

The approximately three-meter statue was created by Josef Malejovský and stood in front of an elementary school in Vsetín in the 1980s. In its new location, in front of the district committee's office and near the Vsetín castle, it falls within the protective zone of a cultural monument. After the unveiling of the statue two years ago, the Vsetín city hall pointed out that an opinion from the state heritage protection authority was required for this, which no one requested, and therefore the statue's placement in the given location was in conflict with the law on state heritage protection. The communists then had to remove the statue but did not give up their efforts to place it. Ramach described today's unveiling of the statue as a celebration. "It has been 120 years since Julius Fučík's birth and 80 years since he was executed by the Nazis. To me, he is a hero, and we should honor every hero; they should not lie somewhere in storage," said Ramach.

According to the spokesman for the regional office of culture and heritage protection, Soňa Ličková, the regional office assessed only the legality of the binding opinion issued by the Vsetín municipal office in the review process, not the artistic value of the statue or the value of the area. "The castle in Vsetín along with the park area is a cultural monument. To protect the values of this cultural monument, a protective zone was declared by the then District Office of Vsetín in 1998 in the Upper Town," Ličková told CTK today. The regional office assessed the legality of the issued opinion concerning the law on state heritage protection. "After conducting the proceedings, it found that the binding opinion of the Vsetín municipal office was issued in contradiction to the existing legal regulation, as it was not proven in the proceedings in any way that the installation of a bronze statue of a man with a book would negatively affect the subject of monument protection, which in this case is the Vsetín castle. Therefore, the Zlin regional office had no other option than to alter this illegal binding opinion, as in the previous months it had already returned the matter to the Vsetín municipal office twice for remedying defects and new consideration," stated Ličková.

The regional office did not assess the statue's installation from the perspective of building permits. Vsetín city hall spokeswoman Jana Raszková told CTK today that no application for a permit to place the statue had been submitted to the Vsetín building authority. "We will proceed according to the building law," Raszková said. It is therefore not excluded that the authority will still deal with the fate of the statue. However, Ramach stated that the statue is on private land and no permit is required.

After the war, Fučík was honored as a hero and became a symbol of the domestic communist resistance against Nazism. After 1989, doubts emerged about the legend of the glorified resistor. The mayor of Vsetín, Jiří Čunek (KDU-ČSL), told CTK today that he has no right to intervene in the decisions of the authorities regarding the statue. His personal view respects the opinion of historians emphasizing Fučík's contributions. "I see it as entirely irrelevant whether he was a communist, a Christian, a Sokol, or an Eagle. At that time, it didn't matter; anyone who fought against Nazism was a hero and acted rightly, and if the historians' findings are such, then I have no choice but to respect them and view the figure of Fučík in that light," Čunek stated.