Index on Censorship, inspired by Soviet dissidents, marks 50 years of fighting for free speech
Martin Bright
The brave protests of Soviet dissidents in 1968 spawned an organisation that is still giving voice to Putin’s critics today
October 2021
Letter: Roger Michell obituary
Francesca Shrapnel writes: Roger Michell had been able to go through the text in detail with Václav Havel, who was under surveillance in Prague
August 2021
When power thrives on unspoken fear, bravery is in saying ‘I am afraid’
Nick Cohen
Admitting cowardice is a subversive act within cultures that demand lip service
September 2020
Carol Rumens's poem of the week
Poem of the week: Before It Is All Gone by Ifigenija Simonović
A tough-minded reflection on the price of being a witness to traumatic history
June 2020
Zdena Tomin obituary
Human rights campaigner after the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and a spokesperson for Charter 77
March 2020
From the Guardian archive
Great hyphen debate splits Czechoslovak MPs – archive, 1990
30 March 1990: Compromise over what to call Czechoslovakia after the fall of the communist government
December 2019
Victims, not victors? The uniquely Czech debate over how to memorialise the Velvet Revolution
Prague has long an uneasy relationship with monuments to its history – but 30 years since the fall of the communist regime, that could be about to change
November 2019
From the Guardian archive
Czechs scrap one-party rule - archive, 1989
From the Guardian archive
Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution - archive, November 1989
June 2019
Czech Republic: protesters demand prime minister's resignation
Slovakia's new president buoys Czech liberals on first foreign visit
October 2017
'Were you followed?' Václav Havel’s secret plays staged in London homes
My brilliant and troubled friend Lou Reed
September 2017
Czech actor Jan Tříska dies, aged 80, after fall from Prague bridge
Actor who emigrated to the US during Czechoslovakia’s communist era was best known for his appearances in The Karate Kid Part III and Quantum Leap
October 2016
Iraqi activist Nadia Murad wins human rights prize for Yazidi campaign
Václav Havel award given to 23-year-old former Isis captive for bringing attention to the plight of Yazidi people
August 2016
From the Guardian archive
Alexander Dubcek and the great divide - archive
30 Aug 1991: Can Dubcek be all things to all men and all women, Czech and Slovak? The political icon is forced to wrestle with the politics of a divided nation
June 2015
Havel: A Life by Michael Žantovský review – ‘an imperfect man, like the rest of us’
A tip for Europe’s frustrated young radicals: reclaim the dissident spirit
Natalie Nougayrède
May 2015
The west’s assurances to Soviet ministers on eastward expansion of Nato
Letters: The Russians believe that they were misled: imagine our reaction if the position were reversed
December 2014
Observer books of the year 2014
The best biographies of 2014
Boris Johnson’s paean to Churchill provided amusement while a life of Czech dissident Václav Havel proved revelatory, writes Robert McCrum
