Karásek was born in Prague in 1942, first studying horticulture, then the Evangelical Theological Faculty. From 1968 he worked as a pastor, he was able to get people back to the almost empty churches. Without giving a reason, his so-called state consent was revoked and he was not allowed to act as a pastor. He later worked as a castellan at Houska Castle.
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Karásek was involved in the Czech underground in the 1970s and was persecuted by the State Security. In 1976, he was sentenced to eight months in prison, officially for rioting. The reason was the lyrics of songs that he sang at concerts together with Ivan Martin Jirous and others.
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Svatopluk Karásek in a picture from 2018.
Photo: Luděk Peřina, ČTK
In 1980, he forced to emigrate to Austria and later to Switzerland as part of the so-called Sanitation, in which the StB forced people uncomfortable from the regime to leave the country.
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He worked in Switzerland as an evangelical pastor and persevered in this even after returning to Czechoslovakia.
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After 2000, he became involved in politics, was a councilor of Czech Television and in 2002 was elected a member of the Union for Freedom. He lasted in politics until 2006. He unsuccessfully ran for the European Parliament and the Senate.
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He withdrew from public life in 2010, when he suffered a moderate stroke, but he still works as a pastor.
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