Michal Mrtvý

"In 1987, I learned that two of my friends, Ruda Berez from Olomouc and Tomáš Hradílek from Lipník nad Bečvou, intend to perform in public on May 1. In particular, Tomáš Hradílek said to himself that the time was ripe that people should get out of their shells and start doing something in public. They decided to perform on May 1st in the May Day parade. They originally wanted to join the May Day parade, but it didn't work out, so they stood on the sidewalk in front of the main grandstand and developed a banner there, 'Charta 77 encourages civic courage'. I thought I won't miss it. So I said I'd document it on camera. Perhaps they managed to stand there for a few minutes until one of the policemen noticed that there was something inappropriate on the sidewalk, that there was a banner that did not celebrate the Communist Party, the working class, or the achievements of the peasants. So the two who held the banner - it was Ruda Bereza and Tomáš Hradílek - they took them. Then they realized, I am still filming it, so they took me also. The three of us remained in pre-trial detention and a house search was carried out on my premises. Of course, they took away a lot of religious literature from me again, the detention lasted four or five days, and then we were released. I was completely acquitted, but Ruda Bereza and Tomáš Hradílek were charged with rioting, and I suspect that in the end they only escaped with a fine. The rationale for our allegations of rioting was that we had committed gross misconduct in public by spreading the banner 'Charta 77 encourages civic courage'. I don't know what was grossly rude about it, nobody explained it to me. "

"The trial evolved in the way that in October 1986 a first-degree trial was ordered. Many of my friends came to the court hearing, And there was this incident that the STBs didn't want the trial to be public. But with so many people coming in, there was quit a big stir, they had to submit and move the hearing into a larger courtroom. I suppose a large part of those people, my friends and foreign sympathizers, managed to get there. It was also suspicious, that the building was surrounded by members of People’s Militia, who were supposed to watch over the order in the courtroom I think it did not happen during any process, only here, and that People’s Milita was part of it. There were incidents, various shovings, my pregnant wife was pushed downstairs. But in the took place with participation of the public and I was given a conditional sentece, i think it was thirteen months with delay or three years with seven month of custody already included in the sentence.“