Memorial ceremonies held for Jan Palach

Members of the Prague public were able to take part in a memorial ceremony on Saturday marking the sacrifice of student Jan Palach 38 years ago. On January 16th, 1969, the young student, who was twenty years old, doused himself in gasoline and set himself alight on Prague's Wenceslas Square. The act was one of protest against the brutal Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. The ceremony on Saturday took place at the site of Mr Palach's grave at the Olsany cemetery in Prague.

Also on the day, some 130 people gathered in Mr Palach's home town of Vsetaty, near Prague, to mark his sacrifice and tragic death.