Thousands gather to commemorate anti-communist dissidents

Hundreds of former political prisoners from the Czech Republic and Slovakia have gathered at the pilgrimage site of Svatý Hostýn to commemorate deceased dissidents. Another roughly 2000 visitors attended a mass held by the Archbishop of Prague, Dominik Duka. Archbishop Duka recalled that there were more than a quarter of a million political prisoners in former Czechoslovakia, and that the event was a vote of thanks for their freedom. 2,400 former political prisoners are still alive today, according to the Confederation of Czech Political Prisoners, which organised the event.