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When Czechoslovak dissidents produced samizdat literature in the late communist period they did so in large part thanks to the material and financial support of the Charter 77 Foundation. It was run by František Janouch, a Czech émigré who is still mainly based in Sweden. In the second half of a two-part interview with the nuclear scientist, we discussed his relationship with Václav Havel, the Velvet Revolution and the work of the Charter 77 Foundation today. But first I asked Mr. Janouch, now 85, how the organisation had managed to get printers

One-time dissident Bishop Jiří Paďour has died at the age of 72. Padour studied acting in Prague in the 1960s, when he got to know Václav Havel, and directing in France, where he decided to join the church and returned to Czechoslovakia. After coming into conflict with the Communist authorities he was stripped of his license to minister and forced to work as a cleaner, though he secretly joined the Capuchin order. He became a leading figure in the Czech Roman Catholic Church following the 1989 Velvet Revolution.

Thousands of students and other people gathered at Prague’s Albertov on Sunday to mark the historical events of November 17 1939 and 1989. On Tuesday, when the landmarks are usually commemorated, police refused to allow students to gather there due to the fact the group Bloc Against Islam had booked the spot for a rally addressed by President Miloš Zeman. Participants in Sunday’s gathering carried signs reading Education against fear and No to violence and collective guilt. The Nazis subjected Czech students to terror on November 17 1939; it later became International Students Day and in 1989 saw the beginning of the Velvet Revolution.

There were supposed to have been around 17 demonstrations in Prague on the November 17 state holiday to commemorate the start of the students’ protest that sparked the Velvet Revolution and the fall of Communism.

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has openly criticized the president for addressing an anti-migrant rally on the country’s public holiday on November 17th. In an interview for Friday’s Hospodářské noviny Mr. Sobotka said President Miloš Zeman had joined the ranks of populists who are feeding off people’s fear of the Islamic State and the migrant crisis. The president of a country with a humanist and democratic tradition should not legitimize the promotion of xenophobia and racial hatred, Mr. Sobotka told the paper, saying the president’s action was deeply disappointing.

An attempt by students to lay flowers under a plaque at Albertov to mark November 17th just hours ahead of the president’s speech there was clearly a provocation, the president’s spokesman Jiří Ovčáček told the Czech Television on Thursday. The police on Tuesday turned away students who wanted to mark the historic events, but they later allowed the president’s supporters access. President Miloš Zeman addressed a gathering that included members of the Bloc Against Islam, for which he has come under fierce criticism. On Wednesday, students announced that they would mark the anniversary ‘properly’ on November 28.

Students and their professors were denied the freedom this year at Albertov, the dean of Charles University’s Faculty of Science, Bohuslav Gaš, said in a statement released on Wednesday. He called the students’ not being allowed to the site of a plaque at Albertov to mark November 17th for security reasons (hours ahead of the president’s speech) unjust, and charged that the students had been treated like “intruders”. Other faculties also criticized the situation, pointing out the area was open afterwards to the president’s supporters. Last year, President Miloš Zeman’s speech was, at points, drowned out and his security team had to step in to prevent the head of state from being pelted with eggs by those opposed to his policies.

Emotions are running high following Tuesday’ anti-Islamic demonstration at Prague’s Albertov, held on the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. Academics from Charles University have strongly criticized the fact that students were denied access to the historic site because of a political gathering.

Students who were not allowed to continue on to Albertov in Prague on November 17, to mark historic events (the execution and mass arrest of Czech students by the Nazis in 1939 and the start of the Velvet Revolution in 1989) say they will mark the anniversary ‘properly’ on November 28. Some 4,000 people, aiming to participate, have already signed up on facebook. On Tuesday, students aiming to mark the November 17th anniversary were turned away by security ahead of a speech by President Miloš Zeman where he appeared on stage several hours later with members of the Bloc Against Islam, for which he has come under criticism.

Police arrested around 20 people in Prague on Tuesday in connection with a number of demonstrations held on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution which led to the collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989. Individuals were detained largely for disorderly conduct or accosting an officer of the law. According to a police spokesman, officers found knives and other weapons among some who attended a demonstration organized by the initiative Bloc Against Islam. Tuesday saw numerous demonstrations in the Czech capital - some in support of the president, and some critical of the government or the head-of-state.