Church bells ring across the country as revoltionary anthem fills the airwaves

On Sunday, at exactly 17.11 (5.11pm Central European Time), chruch bells across the country rang out to honour the victims of communist era persecution and those who stood up to it. At the same time, many of the country's public and private radio stations played the song Modlitba pro Martu (A Prayer for Marta), which many Czechs see as one of the anthems of the revolution.

The song was sung by Marta Kubišová, a singer known for her resistance to the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, who was banned from performing by the regime from 1970 until 1989, when she sang to the public during the revolution. She sang the same song at Saturday's special anniversary concert titled Samet 30 (Velvet 30), finishing her performance with the national anthem.