130 gather in Vsetaty to remember Jan Palach

Around 130 visitors from around the Czech Republic and abroad gathered in the town of Vsetaty, near Melnik, north of Prague on Saturday, to remember Jan Palach, the 20-year-old student of philosophy who set himself on fire in 1969 in protest of the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops. Vsetaty was Mr Palach's home town. Saturday's gathering saw several speakers honour Jan Palach's sacrifice, including doctor Tomas Roith, who took part in the very first commemoration of the drastic suicide in 1969. Describing Jan Palach's act, Mr Roith said the suicide had been a warning against encroaching "normalisation" - the period that choked all remnants of political and cultural reforms known as the Prague Spring. Another speaker Antonin Vrba meanwhile said Mr Palach's act was misunderstood even today: in his words Mr Palach's suicide was "not only a protest against the Soviet-led invasion but foremost a protest against the loss of Prague Spring ideals".