10:45, Friday 19 Apr., 2002 Link

"Moreover, it is now clear that the key events in Prague on 17 November 1989 involved a classic Provakation. Since the dissidents were not capable of stirring up the necessary discontent to persuade the party's leaders to change, the secret police (StB) had to organise the protest itself. Of course, the many students who took part in the demonstration (recalling an anti-Nazi protest fifty years earlier) were moved to take part by the events in neighbouring East Germany. But the key event, the so-called 'Massacre', was staged. The dead student, Martin Schmid, turned out to be alive and well and a serving undercover officer of the StB. His 'beating to death' was the spark for further mass protests and the downfall of the hardliners in Prague."

- an intriguing paragraph from Virtual History, in the chapter analysing the fall of Communism. No references, unfortunately.