A few sentences_The last five month of the communist dictatorship from the point of view of the "A few sentences" petition Cover Image

Několik vět. Posledních pět měsíců komunistické diktatury petiční optikou
A few sentences_The last five month of the communist dictatorship from the point of view of the "A few sentences" petition

Author(s): Jiří Urban
Subject(s): History
Published by: Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů

Summary/Abstract: The “A Few Sentences” (Několik vět) petition was made public on Thursday, 29 June 1989 by the Radio Free Europe station in its “Events and Opinions” (Události a názory) evening programme, together with a selection of the names of the first signatories. The text was also broadcast on the same day by Voice of America and the BBC. The following day it was published in full by the Viennese daily newspaper Standard. Some international dailies then carried excerpts from the document. The independent East European Information Agency (Východoevropská informační agentura) provided information on the “A Few Sentences” petition in a report on 3 July 1989. The editors of the independent periodical Information on Charter 77 (Informace o Chartě 77) published the text in its July edition. The samizdat People’s News (Lidové noviny) printed the document in its summer double issue. The official press, represented by the “Red Truth” (Rudé právo) newspaper, did not publish “A Few Sentences” until after the change in social conditions, namely on 19 December 1989. With its seven points, the “A Few Sentences” petition demanded the release of political prisoners, unrestricted freedom to assemble, the legalisation of independent initiatives, media that objectively provided information, the respecting of religious freedom, care for the environment, and the commencement of free discussions on the main issues of post-War Czechoslovak history. The petition was an open document and could be signed by anyone who agreed with its wording. Eventually, by November 1989 it had been signed by almost 40,000 people, and the number of signatures also increased after the fall of communism.

  • Issue Year: IV/2010
  • Issue No: 01
  • Page Range: 21-45
  • Page Count: 25
  • Language: Czech