1948 student leader Josef Lesák dies at 89

Josef Lesák, one of the leaders of the student resistance to the Communist takeover of 1948, has died at the age of 89. Lesák took part in the Prague Uprising against the Nazis in the last days of World War II in Europe, and became the youngest deputy in the Czechoslovak parliament a year later. On February 23, 1948 he led a march by students to Prague Castle to appeal to President Edvard Beneš not to give in to pressure and allow the Communist Party to take control of the country. When they did assume power, Josef Lesák was the first MP imprisoned. Last year he received a state honour for his contribution to the development of democracy and human rights.