Jan Masaryk's death is being re-investigated in Czech Republic

The death of Jan Masaryk, which has been discussed in the Czech Republic for nearly 80 years, has been put under the spotlight again.

Czech police have begun to exhume the remains of former Czechoslovakian Foreign Minister Masaryk from the family grave in Lány, near the capital Prague.

It was reported that the remains will be investigated with modern forensic medicine and criminal investigation methods in order to shed light on the questions behind the death.

Masaryk, known for his pro-Western attitude, was found dead under the window of his official residence in the Chernin Palace in Prague on March 10, 1948.

Authorities of the time recorded Masaryk's death as a suicide. However, due to the way the incident took place and the political conditions of the period, doubts that the death could have been murder were never eliminated.

Masaryk died just a few weeks after the communists seized power in Czechoslovakia in February 1948.

The Czech police's Bureau for Documentation and Investigation of Communism Crimes reopened the case last year.

Within the scope of the investigation, the possibility that Masaryk may have been killed is being considered.

Police Spokesperson Jakub Vinčálek stated that the remains will be examined as soon as possible and that the most up-to-date criminal methods will be used in the work.

Police expect the investigations will help test different allegations that have been building around the case for nearly 80 years.

It was stated that new diplomatic and intelligence documents obtained from archives in the USA, England and France were effective in re-accelerating the investigation.

It was reported that the new documents contain previously unknown details about the circumstances behind Masaryk's death and raise expectations that progress can be made in the investigation.

The Masaryk file was reopened many times after the 1989 Velvet Revolution, which ended the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, but no definitive conclusion was reached as to how his death occurred.

Jan Masaryk was the son of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, one of the founders of Czechoslovakia and the country's first President.

Masaryk served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Czechoslovak government in exile in London during World War II, and continued his duty after the war.

Advocating close relations with the West, Masaryk did not participate in the mass resignation of non-communist ministers during the political crisis that paved the way for the communist seizure of power in February 1948.

The death of Masaryk, who died shortly after the communists took over the Moscow-backed government, remains one of the most controversial political cases in the history of Czechoslovakia.