The World - News from Aug. 18, 1988

Czechoslovakia’s Charter 77 human rights movement, marking the 20th anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion, urged all citizens to “throw off the fetters of fear” and speak out. Charter 77 said that the invasion Aug. 21, 1968, which crushed the “Prague Spring” reform movement, was a national catastrophe that destroyed efforts to achieve political renewal and a more humane social order. But for the first time, the group made no appeal for the withdrawal of the estimated 80,000 Soviet troops stationed in Czechoslovakia.