Former dissidents protest against alleged attempts to re-write history

Around forty leading personalities linked to the 1989 freedom demonstrations have signed an open letter protesting against what they see as a manipulative campaign in the press aiming to rewrite 1989 events in a way that will suit some present-day politicians.

The signatories, who include Dagmar Havlova, former dissidents and student leaders, objected to two interviews pertaining to the events of November 1989 published in the daily MfDnes, which took a different slant on the events and attempted to play down the significance of the student protests. The said interviews were with gallery owner and former communist apparatchik Jiří Jaskmanický and documentary filmmaker Pavel Chalupa.

The paper’s editor-in-chief, Jaroslav Plesl, countered that in the interest of objective reporting the prepared interviews on the 1989 events included people from all walks of life and politicial allegiances.