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The Czech Republic has officially criminalized the promotion of communist movements that suppress human rights, placing them on the same legal footing as Nazi movements. The amendment, signed by President Petr Pavel, explicitly targets anyone who establishes, supports or promotes Nazi, communist or other movements seeking to suppress fundamental freedoms or incite racial, ethnic, religious, national or class hatred. Offenders face prison sentences ranging from one to five years, with additional provisions addressing the distribution of extremist propaganda and symbols. The legislation follows decades of debate over the country's communist past. Czechoslovakia endured more than four decades of communist one-party rule, beginning in 1948 and ending with the peaceful Velvet Revolution in 1989. Supporters, including historians from the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, argued that communist totalitarianism should be treated as seriously as Nazism under criminal law.