By Jan Lopatka
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Dana Nemcova, a leading Czech pro-democracy and human rights dissident under Communist rule, died on Tuesday, a foundation she worked with said. She was 89.
Nemcova was signatory and speaker of the Charter 77 declaration which was the foundation of Czech human rights and democracy movement.
“Dana Nemcova, a woman of a full and free life, deceased in the early hours of today,” Committee of Good Will – Olga Havlova Foundation Chairman Vojtech Sedlacek said in a statement.
“Honest, brave, with her heart and both hands always ready for good and brave things without hesitation. How many people could rely on her and in what difficult situations.”
The downtown Prague apartment where Nemcova lived with her husband, the philosopher Jiri Nemec, and their seven children was a centre of dissident social life under Communism, bringing together leading intellectuals with young alternative artists.
Often bursting with dozens of visitors, it hosted unofficial seminars and even rock concerts, and served as an information exchange and safe space for people facing persecution.
Nemcova, alongside later President Vaclav Havel and others, was a co-founder of the Committee for the Defence of Unjustly Prosecuted (VONS) – a group that supported political prisoners and spread information on their cases.
A trained psychologist, she faced persecution for her VONS activities and served six months in jail in 1979, and was barred from working in her profession.
Nemcova continued her human rights work after the end of Communist Party rule and restoration of democracy in 1989, including the Committee of Good Will founded by Havel’s wife Olga. She also helped set up a centre to support immigrants and refugees.
“Dana Nemcova was an extraordinary personality, brave and deeply humane, who contributed significantly to our freedom and democracy by her relentless and consistent defence of human rights,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala said.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
