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Today in Mailbox: Problems with sending e-mail messages to Radio Prague,
comments on interview with Holocaust survivor Zdenka Fantlova, Talking
Point on foundation of Charter 77, Radio Prague on DRM. Listeners quoted:
Evelyn Coviello, Constantin Liviu Viorel, Helmut Matt.
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Talking PointThirty years since birth of Charter 77 human rights initiative
Thirty years ago a handful of people met in a flat in Prague to discuss the
communist regime's failure to observe fundamental human rights. What grew
out of that meeting was to become the first dissident movement in the
Soviet bloc, a movement which played a key role in bringing about the end
of totalitarian communism in Czechoslovakia. And, perhaps typically for a
country that seems to produce more than its fair share of oddities and
idiosyncracies, it all began with a psychedelic rock band. More
Current AffairsCommunist councillors lose hold over north-eastern village for first time ever
The Velvet Revolution may have led to the fall of Communism in
Czechoslovakia in 1989 but it was not until this weekend that the
Communists lost their hold over a small village in the north-east of the
country. Close to 80 percent of the electorate of Sonov went to the polls
to give a new party a chance to bring about change. Dita Asiedu reports:
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Current AffairsSolidarity movement beacon of hope for Czechoslovak dissidents
This week Poland marks the 25th anniversary of the strike at the Gdansk
shipyard where the Solidarity movement was born. Solidarity served as a
beacon of hope to dissidents in the region, and there was close
co-operation between Czechoslovak and Polish anti-Communist activists.
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One on OnePaul Wilson - the impact of the Plastic People on a communist universe
Hopefully Paul Wilson won't take affront to being included in our
"Czechs in Toronto" series which wraps up this June. Though
Canadian, Paul Wilson easily deserves the title of "honorary"
Czech, having contributed enormously to Czech culture through his
translations into English of authors that include Ivan Klima, Josef
Skvorecky, and Vaclav Havel. In the late 60s and through much of the 70s
Paul lived in Czechoslovakia becoming part of the underground movement. He
befriended art critic Ivan Jirous, the guru of the seminal underground band
The Plastic People of the Universe, and then, indeed, became part of the
band himself.
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Current AffairsWhat is the role of former dissidents in current political life?
A number of political scientists, sociologists, historians and other
academics gathered earlier this week at an international conference in
Prague to discuss what democracy means in Europe. The conference was
organized by the French Social Science Research Centre and tried to tackle
questions like: how important is it to vote? What forms of political
representation are most democratic? One of the most interesting parts of
the discussion was on the role played by former dissidents in the current
political life of those EU member countries that were previously under
totalitarian rule. More
One on OneMarek Tomin - growing up in a dissident family in communist Czechoslovakia
In today's One on One Jan's guest is Marek Tomin - a journalist, traveller,
and Greenpeace advisor who is the son of well-known dissident parents who
were
among the first to sign the human rights charter, Charter 77, in communist
Czechoslovakia. In today's programme you'll hear what it was like growing
up in a dissident family, how Marek as a child registered just "what
was going on". More
Talking PointChildren of the Underground
To mark the 15th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, Nikola Brabenec set
out to speak with the now full grown children of dissidents involved in
Charter 77, the human rights declaration which brought together the
dissident movement.
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Current AffairsAsanace - the Communists' infamous clearance operation - left indelible stain on dissidents' lives
Almost thirty years have passed since communist Czechoslovakia's secret
police first masterminded their infamous Asanace campaign - a clearance
operation that used intimidation, mental and physical abuse, even torture
- to get Czechoslovak dissidents to flee the country. In 2002, three
officials received suspended sentences for their involvement in the
campaign, while two received three-year sentences. The verdicts were later
overturned on a technicality, only to be reinstated once again by a Prague
court this week. With the jail sentences one episode may be over, but, as
Jan Velinger now reports, the case is hardly at an end. More
Current AffairsSpecial technology allows blind students to work with computers
The Charter 77 Foundation has launched an interesting new project called
Making Chances Equal; it supports computer literacy in schools for blind
students and children with locomotive disorders. Last week, the foundation
provided such schools with 108 special computer appliances, including 23
Braille terminals used to convert computer writing into Braille. This
allows blind students to read with their fingers what a sighted person can
see on the screen.
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