on 6 october 1950, šling was arrested, the only evidence of him conspiring against the party being a letter of unconfirmed authorship, supposedly sent by šling to emanuel viktor voska, which did not confirm espionage. his wife and two children were taken to prague on the night of 5 october where his wife was imprisoned for over two years, until the conclusion of the trial. rudolf slánský, general secretary of the ksč, distanced himself from šling, with whom he had been quite close.