Political Instrumentalisation of Economic Crimes in the First Years of the Communist Regime. The Case of the "Štěpán Affair" in Děčín in 1949
2016
Abstract
The proposed case study focuses on the development in Děčín region in the second half of 1940's. It deals with the political instrumentalisation of economic crimes punishment by the communist totalitarian regime in late 1940's and early 1950's.
It is a story of the "Group Štěpán", which performed economic machinations in the Děčín region for a couple of years, while its most important person (František Štěpán) was at the same time the leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) in that region. Although the "Štěpán affair" was a result of economic crimes, the study focuses on it's "metamorphosis" into political crimes during the trial.