Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North, at the Houses of Parliament with members of the Birmingham Six campaign, March 28, 1990. Press Association Archive. All rights reserved.An affair concerning the alleged cooperation of British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with the Czechoslovak secret service (StB) has recently set the media in full cry. The uproar was triggered by gossip coming from a Slovak ex-agent, Ján Sarkocy, who was active in London in the late 80s, during which time he met with Corbyn. Sarkocy claims that Corbyn deliberately passed information to the Czech StB, and even “got cash” for it. But we are in possession of material that proves the opposite: Ján Sarkocy’s personal file at the Security Services Archive in Prague (file of cadre member reg. no. 30505). It shows that Sarkocy is lying, and that what we seem to be dealing with is an effort to discredit one of the most notable left-wing politicians of the day.
Meetings with Corbyn
According to Sarkocy, Corbyn, a member of parliament at the time, was a frequent caller with agents from the East. He was supposedly recruited “under the protection of Russia” and gave the Cold War enemy sensitive information in exchange for money. But the Security Services Archive holds documents that map Sarkocy’s own activities during his period at the Czechoslovak Embassy in London between 1986 and 1989. We can certainly speculate on whether everything in the file is absolutely true, or whether some things are missing. But even so, the document seems decisive in many regards. It certainly does not provide evidence that Corbyn was a spy or a “traitor”.
The media claim that Sarkocy (a.k.a. “Dymič”) met Corbyn three times altogether, but that there might have been one or two additional meetings. Sarkocy’s file contains a detailed list of his activities in Britain, which included several alleged meetings with Corbyn (abbreviated to “COB” in the file): 25 Nov 1986, 8 Apr 1987, 3 Jul 1987, 22 Oct 1987 and 19 Sep 1988. However, there is no mention of any sensitive information or willing cooperation. Sarkocy had others for those purposes, as his file shows, including individuals from the wider circle of the British Conservative government at the time.
