reat
deal from that of the post-World War II period and the first few years
of the communist regime. In those days the regime had feared for its
existence and for that of the system it was attempting to establish. It
had feared interference from outside the country and active opposition
from a large segment of the local population and had also doubted the
reliability of a considerable number of those within its own ranks.

In the police state atmosphere of that time a good portion of the people
had also, and frequently with good reason, feared the regime. People
whose greatest crime might have been lack of enthusiasm feared that they
might be suspected of deviant political beliefs. Because of the brief
time then being spent on investigation of a crime and seeking out an
individual's possible innocence, such persons could easily emerge from
hasty trials as political prisoners.

By 1972 the security troops--successors to the secret police that had
held the population in dread and terror twenty years before--still
existed in considerable force. They had receded into the background,
however, and only infrequently had any contact with the average citizen
as he went about his daily routine.

The population was undoubtedly not altogether content in 1972 and often
chafed at bureaucratic red tape, at lackluster performance on the part
of minor officials, and at other irritations. The youth, in particular,
was showing reluctance to be molded into the uncompromising pattern of
socialist society, and some of its resistance took on characteristics
considered intolerable by the regime. On the other hand, there was
little, if any, sign of organized opposition to the system or the
leadership. The dominant attitude throughout the country was cooperative
to the degree that, if the system was seen to be in need of change, it
was preferable to attempt reform from within the system itself and along
accepted guidelines.

Reflecting the easing of internal tensions, the formal framework of the
judicial system--the penal code, the code of criminal procedure, and the
courts--was extensively changed in 1968. Although the new code
emphasized protection of the state and society more than individual
rights, the code it replaced had been one of the most severe and
inflexible in Europe. The new codes clearly specified that there was no
crime unless it was so defined in law and that there was to be no
punishment unless it had been authorized by law