Prague, 21 November – As part of the 35th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution organized by the Korzo Národní – Thanks that we can, we presented our project Blaničtí rytíři to the general public at the site of the November 1989 events.

Several dozen of the more than 100 former students and survivors of the demonstration 35 years ago met at Národní třída in Prague on Sunday, 17 November. As part of the Blaničtí rytíři project, run by Ms Neela Winkelmann, former managing director of Platform and a direct participant in the 1989 demonstration, the director of the NGO Blízký soused Pavla Fáberová, attorney and mediator Hana Lenghartová, architect Josef Pleskot, dissident and publicist Petr Placák, and biology professor Jan Černý shared their experiences with moderator Veronika Sedláčková on the Blaničtí rytíři stage in close proximity to the memorial site where the most brutal police intervention took place in 1989. The commemorative assembly at 3 pm was addressed by the Rector of the Academy of Performing Arts, Ingeborg Radok Žádná, and the President of the Czech Bar Association, Robert Němec. Those present observed a minute of silence to commemorate the armed attack by members of the security forces of the communist state on several thousand defenceless demonstrators.

The Blaničtí rytíři project is a joint project of the Platform and the PAK48 member organisation, which aims to collect testimonies of participants, clarify and fill in some missing information and bring new facts and help to clarify the still unanswered question of 17 November 1989. The collection of oral history and its analysis will also . The collected memories will be published as an online educational project and a printed publication by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.