Bratislava - Despite numerous citizens' protests, a local district of the Slovak capital Bratislava has decided to erect a plaque to a communist-era leader of the former Czechoslovakia, according to a decree published Wednesday.

Under the decision taken by the Bratislava-Dubravka district, the plaque in memory of Gustav Husak to be placed at the entry to the local city hall is to be installed by May
1, at the latest.

Husak became state and party leader of Czechoslovakia in 1968 after a Soviet-led invasion which put down a reform movement which was known as the "Prague spring."

His rule, during which the communist government persecuted members of ther Prague spring movement and suppressed dissenting opinion, ended in November 1989 when communism was overthrown. Husak died in 1991.

While critics stressed Husak's actions as a communist hard-liner, his backers in the Dubravka district where he originated also note that he was a significant figure in the resistance against the Nazi German occupation of Czechoslovakia during World War II. (dpa)