Letter: Jan Kavan: the questions that remain unanswered

THE OBSERVER's number is in the London telephone book, under 'O'. I was surprised therefore that Alex Kershaw did not get in touch with me. Had Mr Kershaw spoken to me I would have told him the following. The three most important pieces of evidence which cast doubt on Kavan's credibility are as follows: the video-taped session of Kavan drinking champagne with the secret police after the revolution; the 'Source Kato' file from 1969-70 in the StB (secret police) archives; Kavan's own admission that he had 'misled' the Broadcasting Complaints Commission.

Three questions remain unanswered after Kershaw's piece:

Why did Kavan drink champagne with the secret police after the revolution? Why did the secret police think Kavan was a collaborator from 1969-70? After that we simply don't know - the file was weeded in 1989 - but before the revolution. Why did he mislead the BCC - a body hardly made up of secret policemen?

John Sweeney

The Observer

London SW8

On 5 March 1992, the BCC held that Mr Kavan misled the commission and annulled its earlier finding. It is now accepted that the Thames TV programme was accurate and fair.