Dubcek Urges Czech Leaders to Step Down
Former reformist leader Alexander Dubcek today urged Communist leaders to resign as more than 200,000 Czechs crammed Wenceslas Square for the sixth day of protests demanding an end to Communist rule.
In a message read to the protesters, Dubcek--who was ousted when the Soviet Union invaded his country in 1968 after the “Prague Spring”--said all who came to power in the 1968 Soviet-led invasion should resign.
Dubcek’s statement was read by Czechoslovak human rights activist Jiri Silhan, but Dubcek said he hoped to come to Wenceslas Square to greet demonstrators in person over the next few days.
Dubcek was detained for three hours last Friday when he tried to join demonstrators in Prague.
Dubcek’s message was cheered by many of the 200,000 protesters.
“Milos, it’s over!” they chanted, calling for the ousting of hard-line Communist Party chief Milos Jakes. The massive crowd also urged a nationwide general strike next Monday.
Police were not in evidence but opposition leaders said they feared the country’s hard-line Communist authorities were preparing an armed crackdown on popular protest.
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