Prime minister honours author Pavel Kohout

Prime Minister Jiří Rusnok on Monday awarded the author Pavel Kohout an honorary plaque in recognition of his contribution to Czech literature. Pavel Kohout, who turned 85 in July, started his career in the 1950s when he was one of the most vocal supporters of the communist regime. He became a dissident after the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and was one of the authors of the Charter 77 manifesto. In 1979 the communist authorities prevented him from returning to Czechoslovakia from a stay in Vienna. Pavel Kohout’s play Poor Murderer – premiered on Broadway in 1976.