DEPUTY Construction Minister Jan Hurný said his conscience was clean, although he has been listed as a former agent of the communist secret service, the ŠtB.
According to the daily SME, Hurný, a member of the ruling Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), insists that he didn’t sign any cooperation deals with the ŠtB and he never spied or informed on anyone.
On November 16 the Slovak National Memory Institute (UPN) published the first bulk of ŠtB files on the Internet, www.upn.gov.sk, listing the ŠtB records from Eastern Slovakia. Data from the Central and Western Slovakia ŠtB divisions should be published in stages.
According to Construction Ministry spokesman Laszlo Juhasz, Hurný was "shocked" at finding out that he is registered as an ŠtB agent.
Although the ŠtB listed people who did not necessarily know they were being considered for cooperation, such as potential agents, according to UPN spokesman Michal Dzurjanin, agents as a rule signed cooperation deals with ŠtB.
SDKÚ chairman and Slovak Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda would not comment on the Hurný case.
According to SME, several Košice councillors were also listed as agents, such as the Christian Democrat Ladislav Lancoš and New Citizen's Alliance member Ladislav Olexa.
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
TheSlovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the informationpresented in its Flash News postings.
