BRATISLAVA, Nov 19 (IPS) - As Slovaks mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism this week, former dissidents have lashed out at top political figures, including the prime minister, who they say are trying to paint the totalitarian regime of old in a positive light.

Some refused to join Prime Minister Robert Fico and other leading government officials for an official event this week marking the beginning of the Velvet Revolution which brought down the communist regime in then Czechoslovakia in 1989. They stayed away after it was revealed that former communist functionaries had been invited to speak.

The furore has sparked debate on how some former communist party chiefs, secret police officers and agents have prospered during the post-communist era while former political prisoners have seen no form of compensation for their persecution at the hands of the state.

Miroslav Kusy, former dissident and one of the most prominent Slovak figures of the revolution, told IPS: "I will not attend an event marking the fall of communism where ex-communists are going to talk to me about the fall of communism. It's as if fascists organised a celebration of an uprising against the Nazis.

"Bringing up the good points of communism is done all the time. It's like praising the good points of fascism - there was full employment and Hitler of course loved dogs. But the regime as a whole was sick and that applies to communism as well. To highlight its good side goes against normal, healthy, thinking."