Charter 77

2017

The Charter 77 memorial plaque in Prague. The declaration appeared on 1 January 1977 with 243 founding signatures. Place: Apartment of Pavel Landovský, Hradčanské náměstí · later, the open letter columns of Le Monde and the New York Times Figures: Václav Havel, Pavel Kohout, Petr Uhl, drafters · Jan Patočka, Václav Havel, Jiří Hájek, first three spokespersons · 242 initial signatories · 7,500 signatories of the Anti-Charter (within a week) The Czechoslovak government signs the Helsinki Final Act in August 1975, guaranteeing civil and political rights in exchange for the West's acknowledgment of postwar borders. The signature provides the dissidents their opening. Charter 77 is a 1,400-word text demanding the regime honor its own constitution and the treaty it has just signed. It asks for nothing not already on the books. It refuses to be a political opposition; it calls itself a citizens' initiative. On New Year's Day 1977, the text is finalized in Landovský's flat above Hradčany Square. Two hundred and forty-two people have signed. Landovský, Havel, and Ludvík Vaculík set out to post the document to the federal government, the Federal Assembly, and the press agencies. They are arrested on Ruzyně road before reaching the post office; copies have already left the country by other channels. The subject dates from 1977; this photograph was taken in 2017.