Former environment minister Ivan Dejmal dies at age 61

Ivan Dejmal, former Czech environment minister and deputy head of the newly-established Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, died late on Wednesday, at the age of 61. Dejmal was environment minister from 1991-1992 pushing through a crucial law on nature and landscape protection. In the 1970s Dejmal was persecuted by the communist secret police. He was twice imprisoned for allegedly “undermining the Czechoslovak communist state” and for his frequent contacts with the dissident community. He spent four years in prison.

Author: Jan Richter