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{{Short description|Demonstration against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
[[File:Za vashu i nashu svobodu.jpg|150px|right|thumb|"[[For your freedom and ours]]", one of banners of demonstrators, 1968]]
[[File:Za vashu i nashu svobodu.jpg|150px|right|thumb|"[[For your freedom and ours]]", one of banners of demonstrators, 1968]]
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The '''1968 Red Square demonstration''' ({{lang-ru|Демонстра́ция 25 а́вгуста 1968 го́да}}) took place in Moscow on 25 August 1968. It was a protest by eight demonstrators against the [[Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968)|invasion of Czechoslovakia]] by the [[Soviet Union]] and its [[Warsaw Pact]] allies, on the night of 20–21 August 1968, crushing the [[Prague spring|Prague Spring]], a set of de-centralization reforms promoted by [[Alexander Dubček]].
The '''1968 Red Square demonstration''' ({{lang-ru|Демонстра́ция 25 а́вгуста 1968 го́да}}) took place in Moscow on 25 August 1968. It was a protest by eight demonstrators against the [[Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968)|invasion of Czechoslovakia]] on the night of 20–21 August 1968 by the [[Soviet Union]] and its [[Warsaw Pact]] allies, crushing the [[Prague Spring]], the challenge to centralised planning and censorship by [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia|communist]] leader [[Alexander Dubček]].


The protest took place at the [[Lobnoye Mesto]] (Place of Proclamation) on [[Red Square]] next to the Kremlin, to avoid any accusation of a violation of public order. It was a non-violent, sit-down demonstration but all but one of the protestors was roughly arrested by police and plainclothes KGB men.
The protest took place at the [[Lobnoye Mesto]] (Place of Proclamation) on [[Red Square]] next to the Kremlin, to avoid any accusation of a violation of public order. It was a [[nonviolent]], sit-down demonstration. However, all but one of the protestors was quickly and roughly arrested by police and plainclothes KGB men.


==The protest==
==The protest, 25 August==
The protest began at noon as eight protesters ([[Larisa Bogoraz]], Konstantin Babitsky, [[Vadim Delaunay]], Vladimir Dremliuga, [[Pavel Litvinov]], [[Natalya Gorbanevskaya]], [[Viktor Fainberg]], and Tatiana Baeva) sat at the Lobnoye Mesto and held a small [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak]] flag and placards bearing various slogans:
The protest began at noon as eight protesters ([[Larisa Bogoraz]], Konstantin Babitsky, [[Vadim Delaunay]], Vladimir Dremliuga, [[Pavel Litvinov]], [[Natalya Gorbanevskaya]], [[Viktor Fainberg]], and Tatiana Baeva) sat at the Lobnoye Mesto and held a small [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak]] flag and placards bearing various slogans:
* "We are losing our best friends" ("мы теряем лучших друзей"),
* "We are losing our best friends" ("мы теряем лучших друзей"),
* "Ať žije svobodné a nezávislé Československo!" (Long live free and independent Czechoslovakia),
* "Long live free and independent Czechoslovakia" ("Ať žije svobodné a nezávislé Československo!", in [[Czech language|Czech]]),
* "Shame to the occupiers" ("Позор оккупантам!"),
* "Shame to the occupiers" ("Позор оккупантам!"),
* "Hands off the [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|ČSSR]]" ("Руки прочь от ЧССР!"),
* "Hands off the [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|ČSSR]]" ("Руки прочь от ЧССР!"),
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Within a few minutes, seven of the protesters were assaulted, brutally beaten and loaded into cars by [[KGB]] operatives. The Czechoslovak flag was broken, and the placards were confiscated. Since [[Natalya Gorbanevskaya]] had recently given birth, she was not made to stand trial. The other protesters convinced 21-year-old Tatiana Baeva to declare that she had been at the scene by accident, and she was released soon after.
Within a few minutes, seven of the protesters were assaulted, brutally beaten and loaded into cars by [[KGB]] operatives. The Czechoslovak flag was broken, and the placards were confiscated. Since [[Natalya Gorbanevskaya]] had recently given birth, she was not made to stand trial. The other protesters convinced 21-year-old Tatiana Baeva to declare that she had been at the scene by accident, and she was released soon after.


The KGB failed to find out which protester was holding which banner; therefore, all the banners were attributed to each protester, except for Tatiana Baeva, who was released. The banners were branded by the KGB as "[[anti-Soviet]]".<ref name="an">Letter by [[Yuri Andropov]] to [[Central Committee]] about the demonstration, 5 sept. 1968, in the [[Vladimir Bukovsky]]'s archive, (PDF, faximile, in Russian), http://psi.ece.jhu.edu/~kaplan/IRUSS/BUK/GBARC/pdfs/dis60/kgb68-5.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108182643/http://psi.ece.jhu.edu/~kaplan/IRUSS/BUK/GBARC/pdfs/dis60/kgb68-5.pdf |date=8 November 2017 }}</ref><ref>Andropov to the Central Committee. The Demonstration in Red Square Against the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia. 20 September 1968, at [[Andrei Sakharov]]'s archive, in Russian and translation into English, {{cite web|url=http://www.yale.edu/annals/sakharov/documents_frames/Sakharov_008.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2007-06-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012132901/http://yale.edu/annals/sakharov/documents_frames/Sakharov_008.htm |archivedate=12 October 2007 }}</ref>
The KGB failed to find out which protester was holding which banner; therefore, all the banners were attributed to each protester, except for Tatiana Baeva, who was released. The banners were branded by the KGB as "[[anti-Soviet]]".<ref>[https://bukovsky-archive.com/2020/08/25/5-september-1968-2012-a-red-square/ Andropov et al. to Politburo about Red Square demonstrators (5 September 1968, 2012-A), Bukovsky Archives].</ref> <ref>Andropov to the Central Committee. The Demonstration in Red Square Against the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia. 20 September 1968, at [[Andrei Sakharov]]'s archive, in Russian and translation into English, {{cite web|url=http://www.yale.edu/annals/sakharov/documents_frames/Sakharov_008.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-06-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012132901/http://yale.edu/annals/sakharov/documents_frames/Sakharov_008.htm |archive-date=12 October 2007 }}</ref>


==Trial==
==Trial, 9-11 October 1968==
During the investigation and trial, the defence revealed several inconsistencies in the accusations.<ref>[https://chronicle-of-current-events.com/1968/12/15/4-1-the-trial-of-the-demonstrators-on-red-square/ "The trial of the Red Square demonstrators, 9-11 October 1968", A Chronicle of Current Events (4.1 31 October 1968)].</ref>
During the investigation and trial, the defence revealed several inconsistencies in the accusations.<ref>[https://chronicle-of-current-events.com/1968/12/15/4-1-the-trial-of-the-demonstrators-on-red-square/ "The trial of the Red Square demonstrators, 9-11 October 1968", A Chronicle of Current Events (4.1 31 October 1968)].</ref>
One of the eyewitnesses declared that he saw protesters leaving the [[GUM (department store)|GUM]], a large store in the vicinity, even though this store is closed on Sundays. Additionally, all eyewitnesses happened to be from the same military division, even though they all claimed that they ended up on Red Square accidentally. However, these inconsistencies were not taken into account during the trial.
One of the eyewitnesses declared that he saw protesters leaving the [[GUM (department store)|GUM]], a large store in the vicinity, even though this store is closed on Sundays. Additionally, all eyewitnesses happened to be from the same military division, even though they all claimed that they ended up on Red Square accidentally. However, these inconsistencies were not taken into account during the trial.


None of the demonstrators pleaded guilty.
⚫
None of the demonstrators pleaded guilty. Vadim Delaunay and Vladimir Dremlyuga were sentenced to three years. Victor Fainberg had his teeth knocked out during the arrest; instead of appearing in court, he was sent to a [[psikhushka|psychiatric prison]]. Larisa Bogoraz was sentenced to four years of exile to a remote Siberian settlement in the [[Irkutsk]] region. Konstantin Babitsky was sentenced to three years of exile. Pavel Litvinov was sentenced to five years of exile. Natalya Gorbanevskaya was released the same day but was later sent to a psychiatric prison.


==The verdict and sentence, October 1968==
===Verdict and sentence===
Lawyers for the defence (all [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] members appointed and paid for by the State) demonstrated that the protestors had acted without criminal intent.<ref>[http://www.memo.ru/library/books/sw/chapt49.htm See speech in defense of [[Vadim Delaunay|V.Delaunay]] by his attorney [[Sofia Kallistratova|S.V.Kallistratova]] (Речь адвоката [[Каллистратова, Софья Васильевна|С.В.Калистратовой]] в защиту [[Делоне, Вадим Николаевич|В.Делоне]]), in Russian].</ref> but the protesters on trial all received sentences of up to several years imprisonment or in exile. Freidin and Gorbanevskaya were sent to psychiatric hospitals.
Lawyers for the defence (all [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] members appointed and paid for by the State) demonstrated that the protestors had acted without criminal intent,<ref>[http://www.memo.ru/library/books/sw/chapt49.htm See speech] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925210832/http://www.memo.ru/library/books/sw/chapt49.htm |date=25 September 2020 }} in defense of [[Vadim Delaunay|V.Delaunay]] by his attorney [[Sofia Kallistratova|S.V.Kallistratova]] (Речь адвоката Каллистратова, Софья Васильевна|С.В.Калистратовой в защиту Делоне, Вадим Николаевич|В.Делоне), in Russian.</ref> but the protesters on trial all received sentences of up to several years imprisonment or exile and in two cases they were sent to psychiatric prison hospitals.


⚫
Vadim Delaunay and Vladimir Dremlyuga were sentenced to three years in a penal colony. Victor Fainberg, who had his teeth knocked out during the arrest, did not appear in court but was sent to a [[psikhushka|psychiatric prison]]. Larisa Bogoraz was sentenced to four years of exile to a remote Siberian settlement in the [[Irkutsk]] Region. Konstantin Babitsky was sentenced to three years of exile. Pavel Litvinov was sentenced to five years' exile. Natalya Gorbanevskaya was released the same day but later sent to a psychiatric prison.
⚫
It was claimed by singer and rights activist [[Yuliy Kim]] that the sentences had already been decided before the trial.<ref name="АВка">[http://www.memo.ru/library/books/sw/chapt18.htm Yuly Kim, "The attorney's waltz" (Адвокатский вальс) (in Russian)].</ref> In another song, "Ilyich", Kim mentions [[Yuri Andropov]]'s and [[Leonid Brezhnev]]'s anger at the demonstration, and names three of the participants -- [[Pavel Litvinov]], [[Natalya Gorbanevskaya]] and [[Larisa Bogoraz]].<ref>[http://www.bards.ru/archives/part.php?id=6188 Yuly Kim, "Ya sam sebe Iliich" (in Russian)].</ref>

⚫
In his "Attorney's waltz" singer and rights activist [[Yuliy Kim]] claimed that the sentences had been decided before the trial.<ref name="АВка">[http://www.memo.ru/library/books/sw/chapt18.htm Yuly Kim, "The attorney's waltz" (Адвокатский вальс) (in Russian)].</ref> In another song, "Ilyich", Kim mentions [[Yuri Andropov]]'s and [[Leonid Brezhnev]]'s anger at the demonstration, and refers to three of the protestors by name -- [[Pavel Litvinov]], [[Natalya Gorbanevskaya]] and [[Larisa Bogoraz]].<ref>[http://www.bards.ru/archives/part.php?id=6188 Yuly Kim, "Ya sam sebe Iliich" (in Russian)].</ref>


The story of the August 1968 demonstration is recounted in the 2005 documentary ''[[They Chose Freedom]]''.
The story of the August 1968 demonstration is recounted in the 2005 documentary ''[[They Chose Freedom]]''.


==Belated public recognition, 2008==
==Belated public recognition==
In 1990 (following the [[Velvet Revolution]]), seven of the protesters were awarded [[honorary citizenship]] of [[Prague]].<ref name="HonoraryCitizenship">{{cite web|url=https://www.praha.eu/jnp/cz/o_meste/primator_a_volene_organy/zastupitelstvo/cestne_obcanstvi_hlavniho_mesta_prahy/index.html|title=Čestné občanství hlavního města Prahy od roku 1990|website=Portál hlavního města Prahy|language=cs|trans-title=Honorary citizenship of Prague since 1990|trans-work=Portal of Prague}}</ref>
Public recognition of the protesters had to wait 40 years.


During the [[conflict in South Ossetia]], August 2008, the former president of the Czech Republic, [[Václav Havel]], expressed his sympathies for the protesters of 1968.<ref>{{cite news|author=Ярошевский, Виталий|title=На Лобном месте|trans-title=On the Lobnoe mesto|url=http://www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2008/61/17.html|work=[[Novaya Gazeta]]|issue=61|date=21 August 2008|language=Russian|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080904084029/http://www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2008/61/17.html|archivedate=4 September 2008}}</ref> Czech Premier [[Mirek Topolánek]] recognized the heroism of the protesters with awards.<ref>Premier Awarded Commemorative Medals to Ten Dissidents from 1968. Press Release of the government of the Czech Republic, 21 August 2008, http://www.vlada.cz/scripts/detail.php?id=40255</ref>
During the [[Georgian–Ossetian conflict|conflict in South Ossetia]], August 2008, the former president of the Czech Republic, [[Václav Havel]], expressed his sympathies for the protesters of 1968.<ref>{{cite news|author=Ярошевский, Виталий|title=На Лобном месте|trans-title=On the Lobnoe mesto|url=http://www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2008/61/17.html|work=[[Novaya Gazeta]]|issue=61|date=21 August 2008|language=ru|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080904084029/http://www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2008/61/17.html|archive-date=4 September 2008}}</ref> Czech Premier [[Mirek Topolánek]] recognized the heroism of the protesters with awards.<ref>Premier Awarded Commemorative Medals to Ten Dissidents from 1968. Press Release of the government of the Czech Republic, 21 August 2008, http://www.vlada.cz/scripts/detail.php?id=40255</ref>


There was no recognition on the part of the Russian government. On 24 August 2008, the [[2008 Red Square demonstration|similar demonstration]] with the slogan [[For your freedom and ours]] was held in the same place.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/25/europe/25russia.4.php|title= Red Square protest echoes 1968|publisher=[[Herald Tribune]] |author = Sophia Kishkovsky|date=25 August 2008|accessdate=31 August 2008| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080913165452/http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/25/europe/25russia.4.php| archivedate= 13 September 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>
There was no recognition on the part of the Russian government. On 24 August 2008, the [[2008 Red Square demonstration|similar demonstration]] with the slogan [[For your freedom and ours]] was held in the same place.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/25/europe/25russia.4.php|title= Red Square protest echoes 1968|publisher=[[International Herald Tribune|Herald Tribune]] |author = Sophia Kishkovsky|date=25 August 2008|access-date=31 August 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080913165452/http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/25/europe/25russia.4.php| archive-date= 13 September 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>


On 25 August 2013, the 45th anniversary of the demonstration, Gorbanevskaya and several of her friends recreated the original protest,<ref>Photograph from 2013 recreation of the protest, from Gorbanevskaya's Livejournal blog, http://ng68.livejournal.com/2062987.html{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> again featuring the "For your freedom and ours" banner. Ten participants (among them Delaunay's son Sergey) were arrested almost immediately and taken to a police station. They were soon arraigned and released pending court appearance on charges of failing to secure prior permission for a political rally,<ref>"Police release all Red Square detainees", in Russian, "Lenta" news stream, 25 August 2013 http://lenta.ru/news/2013/08/25/redsquare/</ref> a misdemeanor under current Russian law.
On 25 August 2013, the 45th anniversary of the demonstration, Gorbanevskaya and several of her friends recreated the original protest,<ref>Photograph from 2013 recreation of the protest, from Gorbanevskaya's Livejournal blog, [https://web.archive.org/web/20200725024643/https://ng68.livejournal.com/2062987.html]</ref> again featuring the "For your freedom and ours" banner. Ten participants (among them Delaunay's son Sergey) were arrested almost immediately and taken to a police station. They were soon arraigned and released pending court appearance on charges of failing to secure prior permission for a political rally,<ref>"Police release all Red Square detainees", in Russian, "Lenta" news stream, 25 August 2013 http://lenta.ru/news/2013/08/25/redsquare/</ref> a misdemeanor under current Russian law.


In 2018 three participants at another repeat demonstration were arrested.<ref>[https://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/2018/08/25/144494-na-krasnoy-ploschadi-zaderzhali-dvuh-chelovek-s-plakatom-za-nashu-i-vashu-svobodu Three people were arrested on red square for remembrance of the 1968 Red Square demonstration], [[Novaya Gazeta]], 25 August 2018</ref>
In 2018, three participants at another repeat demonstration were arrested.<ref>[https://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/2018/08/25/144494-na-krasnoy-ploschadi-zaderzhali-dvuh-chelovek-s-plakatom-za-nashu-i-vashu-svobodu Three people were arrested on red square for remembrance of the 1968 Red Square demonstration], [[Novaya Gazeta]], 25 August 2018</ref>


==References==
==References==
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* {{Cite book| publisher = Wesleyan University Press| isbn = 0-8195-6176-2| last = Alexeyeva| first = Lyudmila| others = Carol Pearce, John Glad (trans.)| title = Soviet Dissent: Contemporary Movements for National, Religious, and Human Rights| location = Middletown, Conn.| date = 1987}}
* {{Cite book| publisher = Wesleyan University Press| isbn = 0-8195-6176-2| last = Alexeyeva| first = Lyudmila| others = Carol Pearce, John Glad (trans.)| title = Soviet Dissent: Contemporary Movements for National, Religious, and Human Rights| location = Middletown, Conn.| date = 1987}}
*{{cite book|author=Boobbyer, Philip|title=Conscience, dissent and reform in Soviet Russia|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415331862|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hmed65SZNqgC}}
*{{cite book|author=Boobbyer, Philip|title=Conscience, dissent and reform in Soviet Russia|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415331862|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hmed65SZNqgC}}

==See also==
* [[Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union]]


== External links ==
== External links ==
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*Soviet Archives posted by [[Vladimir Bukovsky|V. Bukovsky]]. Chapter 3.1 Dissidents, 1960–1969, https://web.archive.org/web/20180720130713/http://psi.ece.jhu.edu/~kaplan/IRUSS/BUK/GBARC/pdfs/dis60/dis60-e.html
*Soviet Archives posted by [[Vladimir Bukovsky|V. Bukovsky]]. Chapter 3.1 Dissidents, 1960–1969, https://web.archive.org/web/20180720130713/http://psi.ece.jhu.edu/~kaplan/IRUSS/BUK/GBARC/pdfs/dis60/dis60-e.html
*{{cite book|author=Boobbyer, Philip|title=Conscience, dissent and reform in Soviet Russia|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415331862|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hmed65SZNqgC}}
*{{cite book|author=Boobbyer, Philip|title=Conscience, dissent and reform in Soviet Russia|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415331862|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hmed65SZNqgC}}
*[http://www.memo.ru/history/DISS/chr/chr3.htm Информация о демонстрации в бюллетене "Хроника текущих событий"]
*[http://www.memo.ru/history/DISS/chr/chr3.htm Информация о демонстрации в бюллетене "Хроника текущих событий"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929094547/http://www.memo.ru/history/DISS/chr/chr3.htm |date=29 September 2012 }}
*[http://www.memo.ru/history/DISS/chr/chr4.htm Информация о суде над демонстрантами в бюллетене "Хроника текущих событий"]
*[http://www.memo.ru/history/DISS/chr/chr4.htm Информация о суде над демонстрантами в бюллетене "Хроника текущих событий"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204205512/http://www.memo.ru/history/DISS/chr/chr4.htm |date=4 February 2017 }}
<!--* [http://www.memo.ru/library/books/sw/chapt49.htm Речь [[Каллистратова, Софья Васильевна|С. В. Калистратовой]] в защиту В.Делоне.] !-->
<!--* [http://www.memo.ru/library/books/sw/chapt49.htm Речь [[Каллистратова, Софья Васильевна|С. В. Калистратовой]] в защиту В.Делоне.] !-->
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070323214807/http://som.fio.ru/Resources/Drachlerab/2005/08/70.htm#_ftnref2 Л. А. Кацва. История России. Cоветский период. (1917–1991)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070323214807/http://som.fio.ru/Resources/Drachlerab/2005/08/70.htm#_ftnref2 Л. А. Кацва. История России. Cоветский период. (1917–1991)]
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{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Square demonstration, 1968}}
[[Category:Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:Events in Moscow]]
[[Category:Events in Moscow]]
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[[Category:Leninism]]
[[Category:1968 in the Soviet Union|Red Square demonstration]]
[[Category:1968 in the Soviet Union|Red Square demonstration]]
[[Category:Czechoslovakia–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:Czechoslovakia–Soviet Union relations]]
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[[Category:Protests in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Protests in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Human rights in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Human rights in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Anti-war protests]]
[[Category:Anti-war protests in Russia]]
[[Category:Red Square]]
[[Category:Red Square]]
[[Category:1968 in Moscow]]
[[Category:1968 in Moscow]]
[[Category:1968 protests]]
[[Category:1968 protests]]
[[Category:August 1968 events]]
[[Category:August 1968 events in Europe]]
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[[Category:Protests in Russia]]

Revision as of 13:46, 23 June 2024

"For your freedom and ours", one of banners of demonstrators, 1968
Natalya Gorbanevskaya, 2005
Pavel Litvinov during his exile to Siberia
Larisa Bogoraz
Vadim Delaunay, 1967
1968 Red Square demonstration
Place of the demonstration
at the Red Square in Moscow
Date25 August 1968; 56 years ago (1968-08-25)
TimeNoon
LocationLobnoye Mesto, Red Square, Moscow
CauseWarsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
ParticipantsLarisa Bogoraz, Konstantin Babitsky, Vadim Delaunay, Vladimir Dremliuga, Pavel Litvinov, Natalya Gorbanevskaya, Viktor Fainberg, Tatiana Baeva

The 1968 Red Square demonstration (Russian: Демонстра́ция 25 а́вгуста 1968 го́да) took place in Moscow on 25 August 1968. It was a protest by eight demonstrators against the invasion of Czechoslovakia on the night of 20–21 August 1968 by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, crushing the Prague Spring, the challenge to centralised planning and censorship by communist leader Alexander Dubček.

The protest took place at the Lobnoye Mesto (Place of Proclamation) on Red Square next to the Kremlin, to avoid any accusation of a violation of public order. It was a nonviolent, sit-down demonstration. However, all but one of the protestors was quickly and roughly arrested by police and plainclothes KGB men.

The protest, 25 August

The protest began at noon as eight protesters (Larisa Bogoraz, Konstantin Babitsky, Vadim Delaunay, Vladimir Dremliuga, Pavel Litvinov, Natalya Gorbanevskaya, Viktor Fainberg, and Tatiana Baeva) sat at the Lobnoye Mesto and held a small Czechoslovak flag and placards bearing various slogans:

  • "We are losing our best friends" ("мы теряем лучших друзей"),
  • "Long live free and independent Czechoslovakia" ("Ať žije svobodné a nezávislé Československo!", in Czech),
  • "Shame to the occupiers" ("Позор оккупантам!"),
  • "Hands off the ČSSR" ("Руки прочь от ЧССР!"),
  • "For your freedom and ours" ("За вашу и нашу свободу!"),
  • "Freedom for Dubček" ("Свободу Дубчеку!").

Within a few minutes, seven of the protesters were assaulted, brutally beaten and loaded into cars by KGB operatives. The Czechoslovak flag was broken, and the placards were confiscated. Since Natalya Gorbanevskaya had recently given birth, she was not made to stand trial. The other protesters convinced 21-year-old Tatiana Baeva to declare that she had been at the scene by accident, and she was released soon after.

The KGB failed to find out which protester was holding which banner; therefore, all the banners were attributed to each protester, except for Tatiana Baeva, who was released. The banners were branded by the KGB as "anti-Soviet".[1] [2]

Trial, 9-11 October 1968

During the investigation and trial, the defence revealed several inconsistencies in the accusations.[3] One of the eyewitnesses declared that he saw protesters leaving the GUM, a large store in the vicinity, even though this store is closed on Sundays. Additionally, all eyewitnesses happened to be from the same military division, even though they all claimed that they ended up on Red Square accidentally. However, these inconsistencies were not taken into account during the trial.

None of the demonstrators pleaded guilty.

Verdict and sentence

Lawyers for the defence (all Communist Party of the Soviet Union members appointed and paid for by the State) demonstrated that the protestors had acted without criminal intent,[4] but the protesters on trial all received sentences of up to several years imprisonment or exile and in two cases they were sent to psychiatric prison hospitals.

Vadim Delaunay and Vladimir Dremlyuga were sentenced to three years in a penal colony. Victor Fainberg, who had his teeth knocked out during the arrest, did not appear in court but was sent to a psychiatric prison. Larisa Bogoraz was sentenced to four years of exile to a remote Siberian settlement in the Irkutsk Region. Konstantin Babitsky was sentenced to three years of exile. Pavel Litvinov was sentenced to five years' exile. Natalya Gorbanevskaya was released the same day but later sent to a psychiatric prison.

In his "Attorney's waltz" singer and rights activist Yuliy Kim claimed that the sentences had been decided before the trial.[5] In another song, "Ilyich", Kim mentions Yuri Andropov's and Leonid Brezhnev's anger at the demonstration, and refers to three of the protestors by name -- Pavel Litvinov, Natalya Gorbanevskaya and Larisa Bogoraz.[6]

The story of the August 1968 demonstration is recounted in the 2005 documentary They Chose Freedom.

Belated public recognition

In 1990 (following the Velvet Revolution), seven of the protesters were awarded honorary citizenship of Prague.[7]

During the conflict in South Ossetia, August 2008, the former president of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel, expressed his sympathies for the protesters of 1968.[8] Czech Premier Mirek Topolánek recognized the heroism of the protesters with awards.[9]

There was no recognition on the part of the Russian government. On 24 August 2008, the similar demonstration with the slogan For your freedom and ours was held in the same place.[10]

On 25 August 2013, the 45th anniversary of the demonstration, Gorbanevskaya and several of her friends recreated the original protest,[11] again featuring the "For your freedom and ours" banner. Ten participants (among them Delaunay's son Sergey) were arrested almost immediately and taken to a police station. They were soon arraigned and released pending court appearance on charges of failing to secure prior permission for a political rally,[12] a misdemeanor under current Russian law.

In 2018, three participants at another repeat demonstration were arrested.[13]

References

  1. ^ Andropov et al. to Politburo about Red Square demonstrators (5 September 1968, 2012-A), Bukovsky Archives.
  2. ^ Andropov to the Central Committee. The Demonstration in Red Square Against the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia. 20 September 1968, at Andrei Sakharov's archive, in Russian and translation into English, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "The trial of the Red Square demonstrators, 9-11 October 1968", A Chronicle of Current Events (4.1 31 October 1968).
  4. ^ See speech Archived 25 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine in defense of V.Delaunay by his attorney S.V.Kallistratova (Речь адвоката Каллистратова, Софья Васильевна|С.В.Калистратовой в защиту Делоне, Вадим Николаевич|В.Делоне), in Russian.
  5. ^ Yuly Kim, "The attorney's waltz" (Адвокатский вальс) (in Russian).
  6. ^ Yuly Kim, "Ya sam sebe Iliich" (in Russian).
  7. ^ "Čestné občanství hlavního města Prahy od roku 1990" [Honorary citizenship of Prague since 1990]. Portál hlavního města Prahy [Portal of Prague] (in Czech).
  8. ^ Ярошевский, Виталий (21 August 2008). "На Лобном месте" [On the Lobnoe mesto]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). No. 61. Archived from the original on 4 September 2008.
  9. ^ Premier Awarded Commemorative Medals to Ten Dissidents from 1968. Press Release of the government of the Czech Republic, 21 August 2008, http://www.vlada.cz/scripts/detail.php?id=40255
  10. ^ Sophia Kishkovsky (25 August 2008). "Red Square protest echoes 1968". Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  11. ^ Photograph from 2013 recreation of the protest, from Gorbanevskaya's Livejournal blog, [1]
  12. ^ "Police release all Red Square detainees", in Russian, "Lenta" news stream, 25 August 2013 http://lenta.ru/news/2013/08/25/redsquare/
  13. ^ Three people were arrested on red square for remembrance of the 1968 Red Square demonstration, Novaya Gazeta, 25 August 2018

Bibliography

See also

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