Czech PEN Branch Decries Repression

PRAGUE, Czechoslovakia —  The Czechoslovak branch of the international writers’ group PEN on Friday condemned the persecution of citizens for expressing their views or taking part in independent cultural activities.

“Many citizens, including artists, are persecuted for signing petitions which are in accordance with the right to petition encompassed in the Czechoslovak constitution,” it said in a statement.

More than 20,000 people have signed a petition entitled “A Few Sentences,” which calls on the hard-line Communist leadership to respect civil liberties and allow an open debate about the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. The authorities have denounced the petition as counterrevolutionary.

The Czechoslovak PEN Club resumed its activities in August, 18 years after it was disbanded after the invasion that crushed the “Prague Spring” reform movement of 1968.