Czechs to celebrate 25th anniversary of fall of communism
Published November 17, 2014
Women place candles to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the so-called Velvet Revolution in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)(The Associated Press)
A woman places a candle to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the so called Velvet Revolution in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)(The Associated Press)
Thousands of Czechs, using the 25th anniversary of the anti-communist Velvet Revolution, gather to call on the controversy-prone Czech President Milos Zeman to resign in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. The crowd gave Zeman a symbolic red card on Monday for demeaning the importance of human rights, a pro-Russian stance in the conflict in Ukraine, using vulgar language and recently downplaying the brutal use of force by police 25 years ago. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)(The Associated Press)
Thousands of Czechs, using the 25th anniversary of the anti-communist Velvet Revolution, gather to call on the controversy-prone Czech President Milos Zeman to resign in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. The crowd gave Zeman a symbolic red card on Monday for demeaning the importance of human rights, a pro-Russian stance in the conflict in Ukraine, using vulgar language and recently downplaying the brutal use of force by police 25 years ago. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)(The Associated Press)
A woman places a candle to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the so called Velvet Revolution in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)(The Associated Press)
PRAGUE Thousands of Czechs gathered in central Prague on Monday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Velvet Revolution that toppled communism -- but festivities turned into an appeal for President Milos Zeman to resign.
The center of the rally was a street in downtown Prague where police cracked down on a peaceful anti-communist student march that came a week after the collapse of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 17, 1989.
The demonstrations began with fiery speeches against the hard-line communist regime at a university campus, prompting thousands of students to march downtown. The police blocked the street from both sides, squeezing the protesters with armed vehicles before attacking them with truncheons; hundreds were injured. Undeterred, the students went on strike and crowds mushroomed in the days that followed.
On Dec. 29, 1989, dissident playwright Vaclav Havel became Czechoslovakia's first democratically elected president in a half-century.
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Czechs to celebrate 25th anniversary of fall of communism