Word: czech
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Havel, 52, is not only a playwright and essayist but also a popular Czech hero who has firsthand knowledge of the Prague regime's harsh treatment of dissidents. In the past two decades he has spent a total of 4 1/2 years behind bars for his activities as a founding member of the Charter 77 human rights organization...
...Vienna last week to attend the final session of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. One main purpose of the meeting: to approve the most far-ranging document on human rights since the Helsinki accords in 1975. But Johanes' endorsement only underscored the hypocrisy of the Czech regime. That day, baton-wielding police used tear gas, water cannons and dogs against 4,000 ^ people who were about to begin a peaceful demonstration in Prague's Wenceslas Square. The rally was called to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Jan Palach, a student who set fire...
...days later, U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz sharply criticized Czechoslovakia for violating the terms of the conference "but one hour after the adoption of the concluding document." Chastened Czech authorities then allowed 1,500 people to hold a peaceful demonstration while state video cameras surreptitiously photographed participants. The following day, however, police armed with truncheons brutally dispersed a crowd of 2,000 marchers. As ambulances raced around the square picking up bleeding and bruised protesters, other people were pushed into waiting vans and buses. At least 40 were arrested and dozens more injured in the melee. "It was terrible...
...Party daily Rude pravo: "The instigators of these actions are intent on destabilizing our society, on pressuring the socialist state." Instigators such as Mikhail Gorbachev, perhaps? Ironically, many of the demonstrators had been chanting "Gorbachev, Gorbachev" and "Gorbachev is watching you," invoking the Soviet leader whose political reforms the Czech leadership claims to support but has so far failed to emulate...
Whether the Brits love Maxwell back is debatable, but certainly a favorite English sport is watching the "bouncing Czech." The business community is both appalled by Maxwell's publicity-mad megalomania and envious of his fiscal ingenuity. Just about everybody is curious about him. Moments after being introduced to Maxwell, Prince Charles turned to one of the publisher's staffers and asked, "But what is he like to work...