DOCUMENTS

The Strikers' Statements

There were virtually thousands of statements published by the students who were on strike, workers who planned to go on the general strike, or just by anyone who finally wanted to try the taste of the freedom of speech. The fliers were hanging all around and definitely represent one of the icons of the "Velvet Revolution".

Although I don't expect I'll succeed in getting some more statements, I still have the little piece of paper that we, as the high-school students of the Nad Alejí Gymnasium, put together. See it with English translation here:
 

The Nad Alejí Gymnásium students' statement

 

S T A T E M E N T
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We the students of the Nad Alejí gymnazium have started a protest strike in reaction to the brutal police action against a peaceful students' and citizens' meeting at Narodni Trida on 11/17/1989.

WE REQUEST:

1) Setting up of an independent investigation committee representing the whole Czechoslovak nation, which will investigate this matter.

2) Punishing of all these who are responsible for this massacre acording to current czechoslovak laws.

3) Legal barriers to prevent repetition of similar police actions.

4) We also request a true and immediate informing of the public.

 

WE CALL FOR ALL THE CITIZENS TO SUPPORT US AS WELL AS ANOTHER STUDENTS ON STRIKE!

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Well, however naive to a person living in a democracy this statement can sound, it really has been a REVOLUTION for us. We even would not dare to speak about the things that now were expressed in these four points in the public before... Suddenly, our schizofrenic personalities were unified, finally we really said also what we thought. It was an incredible feeling.