Former Czech Communist secret service members convicted

A Prague court on Tuesday meted out two prison sentences and one suspended sentence to former members of the Communist secret service StB for having abducted and beaten up dissident Petr Placak in June 1989. The former two were sentenced to 18 months and 12 months in prison, respectively. The third man, who acted as a driver, received a 24-month sentence suspended for 36 months. The men abducted Placak when he protested against tree felling in a park in Prague.