Vojtech Kárpáty: Cases of Criminal Prosecution of Defamation of State and Constitutional Officials in 1945 – 1953 in Eastern Slovakia

One of the fundamental features of European political dictatorships and authoritarian regimes of the 20th century are cults of political leaders and statesmen. Post-war Czechoslovakia in the first decade of its existence was no exception. Apart from the cult of J. V. Stalin, a smaller local cult of the personality of the "first workers' president", K. Gottwald, was also applied. The other side of the official glorification cult was the alleged and real cases of defamation of these personalities and other domestic and foreign communist politicians and statesmen. This study examines selected court cases of these crimes, whose protagonists were tried according to Act No. 231 on People's Democratic Republic Protection of 1948 and the Communist-amended Criminal Law of 1950.