Over 200 people in Prague stage rally for peace in Chechnya

On February 23, the anniversary of Stalin's deportation of the Chechens and Ingushetians to Central Asia and West Siberia in 1944, a rally was held at Namesti Miru Square in Prague.

More than 200 people expressed their support for the efforts to achieve peace in Chechnya and voiced their protest against the European politicians who, by their de facto indifference, have contributed to the current situation in Chechnya.

At the opening, war correspondent JaromМr Stetina read a statement by former Czech President Vaclav Havel written solely for the rally: "I welcome and endorse your meeting to support the resolution of the Chechen conflict based on respect for human dignity, liberty, and basic human rights. The only thing I can do is to continue appealing to the Russian government, stressing over and over again that they should not prolong this historically deep-rooted suffering.

However, my appeal is directed not only toward the Russian representatives. I especially challenge the Czech and European politicians to take a clear stance against the government that is not resolving conflicts within its territory through political means, but with methods that no longer belong to developed countries in the 21st century."

Czech Senators Zuzana Roithova and Jan Ruml, as well as their two colleagues from the lower chamber of the Czech Parliament, Tana Fischerova and Svatopluk Karasek, were also at the rally to lend their personal support.

Last but not least, on behalf of the non-parliamentary Green Party, their candidate to the European Parliament, Olga Lomova, expressed the party's full support for the Peace Plan proposed by Ilyas Akhmadov, Foreign Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, which was also read at the rally.

Editors note: See also the article "International Helsinki Federation condemns break-up of meeting in Moscow to oppose armed conflict in Chechnya".