Čestmír Huňát

“The Jazz Section bothered the regime mainly because it got out of control. Based on a permission to publish the Jazz Bulletin we had also published books and other prints which had not been subject to censorship. This was a big problem for the authorities. Similar case was with the concerts. The biggest issue was that the membership base was distributed throughout the country, including Slovakia – from Aš all the way to Košice. The members were usually active, especially in the field of art, and influenced other people. This network was a thorn in the communists’ side.”

“They reduced it all to an economic affair – paragraph 118: unlawful entrepreneurship. They did their best for it not to be perceived as a political matter. Initially, some millions of crowns had been discussed, related to unpaid taxes. Eventually, it all came down to thirty-six thousand which we re-invested in what we were doing. Even justice Stibořík in his closing remarks stated that our activity was in essence beneficial, if not in line with the custom.”