Related articles

Many areas of life have changed hugely since the Velvet Revolution - including the world of Czech art. Art as a political phenomenon before and after 1989 was the subject of a debate at the Slovak Institute in Prague on Wednesday.

Former communist prime minister of Czechoslovakia, Ladislav Adamec, died at the weekend at the age of 80. A noted pragmatist, Mr Adamec headed the Czechoslovak government from 1988 up until December 1989 when he negotiated the eventual handing over of power with members of the opposition Civic Forum, which included future president Vaclav Havel. Although he tried to retain a place in politics even after the Velvet Revolution, Mr Adamec's later role was ultimately short-lived.

Over 20,000 East Germans escaped to freedom via the West German Embassy in Prague in mid-to-late 1989, as the communist edifice started to crumble after four long decades. Their exodus is now recalled in a new exhibition entitled "Cesta za svobodou" or "Journey to Freedom" at Prague's Police Museum.

Today in Mailbox: Bouncing e-mails once again, reception quality in India, anniversary of Velvet Revolution, a listener's experience from Prague trip. Listeners quoted: Gautam Kumar Sharma, K. Thiagarajan, Mary Lou Krenek, Tony Armiger.

My guest in One on One is Simon Panek. Today he is well known as the director and one of the co-founders of People in Need, one of the Czech Republic's biggest non-governmental organizations. People in Need works around the world to ease the suffering of people in times of crisis - be it war, famine or flood, and has become hugely respected far beyond this country's borders. But Simon Panek first came to the public's attention for a very different reason. It was seventeen years ago this month that he was at the heart of the events that came to

On the eve of the anniversary, a memorial plaque was unveiled on Prague's Albertov street where the peaceful demonstration, which kicked off the Velvet Revolution, started on November 17, 1989. The march which turned into a protest demanding democratic reforms was stopped by riot police and many people were injured. The plaque revealed on Thursday bears the words "Who if not us, when if not now" - one of the slogans of the 1989 Velvet Revolution.

The Czech Republic is marking the anniversaries of the events of November 17th, 1939 and 1989. Seventeen years ago, the Velvet Revolution started in Prague which led to the collapse of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1989. The events were kicked off by a student march on November 17th, 1989 commemorating the student march of 1939 protesting against the Nazi occupation and the death of medical student Jan Opletal who was killed by the Nazis.

President Vaclav Klaus and Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek laid flowers on Friday at the memorial to the 1989 student demonstration on Prague's Narodni street. Outgoing Foreign Minister Alexandr Vondra, who took part in the march 17 years ago, also laid flowers at the plaque and joined a crowd of people bringing flowers and lighting candles there to discuss about the events of 1989.

The dramatic events of the Velvet Revolution began on the 17th November 1989. A student demonstration was put down brutally by the police, resulting in a huge public outcry. Protests and further demonstrations gained such rapid momentum that within days the regime was doomed, and by the end of the year Vaclav Havel was president. Any Czech over the age of thirty-five will have vivid memories of the time, but in the meantime a generation has grown up for whom these events are no more than history. So how, seventeen years after the fall of communism,

A memorial plaque has been unveiled in Prague's Albertov street where the peaceful demonstration which kicked off the Velvet Revolution started 17 years ago, on November 17, 1989. The student march was organised in memory of Jan Opletal, a medical student killed by the Nazis in 1939. The march which turned into a protest demanding democratic reforms was stopped by riot police and many people were injured. The plaque revealed on Thursday bears the words "Who if not us, when if not now" - one of the slogans of the 1989 Velvet Revolution.

November 17th is a state holiday in the Czech Republic - marking the brutal police crack-down on students which led to the fall of the communist regime in 1989. On the eve of the state holiday the CVVM agency conducted a poll to find out what people know about the anniversary, how they feel about it and whether they will mark it in any special way. The results were somewhat surprising.