Three new laureates yesterday joined the more than four dozen people who have been honoured by students in the Stories of Injustice project, in recognition of their opposition to the communist regime.
Leo Zidek, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for his attempted emigration in the middle of the 20th century, nun Kristina Zachovalova, and Vaclav Blabolil, a signatory of the Charter 77 dissident manifesto and a representative of underground art in North Bohemia, were awarded the prizes at Prague’s Lucerna Palace.
They received their awards from Slovak actress and diplomat Magda Vasaryova, Senate President Milos Vystrcil, and poet Marta Vesela Jirousova. The ceremony also saw the launch of the Month of Stories of Injustice, during which schools organise screenings of films themed around Czechoslovak history and invite guests to debates, in cooperation with the People in Need organisation. The project is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year; this is the 16th year the students have awarded prizes.
Vasaryova said that sociologists believe that in every society, roughly a tenth of the population are ready to challenge the existing power. Society should protect these people, she said.
During the evening, Nariman Dzhelyal, the winner of last year’s Foreign Stories of Injustice Award, gave a speech calling for support for Ukraine in its defence against the Russian invasion. The deputy speaker of the informal Crimean Tatar parliament, the Majlis, who was released from a Russian prison in July, was honoured by Stories of Injustice last year while he was in a camp in Siberia. He was originally sentenced to 17 years in prison by Russian courts for opposing the occupation of Crimea. Yesterday in Prague, he thanked the authorities for their support and reminded them that there are still other Ukrainian political prisoners in Russian jails.
The Stories of Injustice Award is unique in its selection of winners, who are decided by students. This year, the jury honoured Zidek, a dissident against the Communist regime from early on, who was arrested while trying to emigrate and sentenced to eight years in prison.
Nun Kristina Zachovalova faced pressure from the regime because of her faith, but despite this she continued to provide comfort to the dying and hope to the sick.
Credit: jsns.cz
Vaclav Blabolil, alias “Mud Man”, was a dissident, a signatory of Charter 77 and the main figure of the underground movement in North Bohemia. He became friends with the Havel family and came into close contact with other dissidents at their cottage in Hradecek. He contributed to the samizdat magazine Vokno. In 1989 he was present at the birth of the Civic Forum in Chrudim.
Since 2005, Stories of Injustice Month has been held every November in hundreds of primary and secondary schools across the Czech Republic. During that time, 10,748 screenings have been held in schools, attended by half a million pupils. This year, 560 schools and more than 100 other institutions are participating in the project.
Among other things, students will watch three documentaries from the 1989 series produced by People in Need. The documentaries present the events of the Velvet Revolution from the perspective of young people: a student, an emigré, and a punk.
