Dissident letter from signatory of Charter 77, Prague Spring, Lenka Prochazkova
Current thoughts about situation from former communist dissident and signatory of Charter 77
“Lenka Procházková (born 24 March 1951 in Olomouc) is a Czech novelist, Charter 77 signatory, journalist, publicist and former diplomat, daughter of the writer, screenwriter and one of the main protagonists of the Prague Spring, Jan Procházka.”
Dear friends,
I'm sorry that I can't take part in this year's Zuberecky Trails. Such gatherings are very important, because they bring together and get to know people who have a real relationship with the country they were born in and whose future they care about.
Recently, I have been feeling my way back to my younger years in the form of déjà vu. Today, as forty years ago, I belong to the civil opposition to the regime, and my texts and those of my friends are published on independent websites, which is today's form of the former samizdat.
Censorship, which was then and is now prohibited by the Constitution, is still in place and dozens of people are being prosecuted for anti-regime views. There are associations to defend and support them. In the houses of my youth it was VONS (Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted), today it is PRAK (Community Against Restrictions and Criminalisation).
I founded PRAK together with Jan Schneider, also a signatory of Charter 77, and Dr. Josef Skála, a communist, Associate Professor Radim Valenčík - a former communist, and several contemporary right-wing intellectuals are also members. How is this possible? Easily. The current regime is unprecedentedly bringing together people of different political views who are bound together by the instinct of self-preservation and a sense of responsibility towards their country and its future. The threat of a world war is also a fundamental reason for cooperation across the political spectrum and against the current regime. But unlike in my youth, today the word PEACE is on the index. In this, the current regime is more degenerate than the one we thought we had bravely overthrown in November 1989. Apparently, it was more a backroom deal than a revolutionary overthrow. And it didn't take much bravery either. On the contrary, we will need it now, regardless of the labeling by the "objective public" media, to continue to spread the truth about the state of our world as it is and to seek ways to save it. Our ancestors had an almost spearheaded search for truth. The inscription on the presidential standard, TRUTH WINS, is still valid and binding, even though a dresser of uniforms and opinions currently resides in the Castle.
My dear friends, I wish this year's Zuberecky paths the right direction, good atmosphere and firm faith. In the end, everything will indeed turn out well. And if it doesn't, it's not over yet, as John Lennon knew.
Lenka Prochazkova
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