LEAK: Soviets Actively Involved in Restriction of Free Speech in Czechoslovakia

An anonymous source has provided Radio Free Europe with a recorded conversation between the leaders of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. It proves that the Soviets are actively involved in suppressing free speech in Czechoslovakia, although it seems to be more difficult than they expected.

Read an English transcription of the conversation below:

DUBČEK: I already told you what sorts of measures we are taking to put an end to the anti-Soviet and anti-socialist manifestations in the mass media. I already told you what sorts of measures we are preparing and in what sequence we will carry them out. But I also told you at the time that it's impossible to do all this in a single day. We need time to take care of it. We're not able to restore order in the operations of the mass media in just two to three days.

BREZHNEV: Sasha, that's true, and we warned you at the time that the rightist forces will not easily give up their positions and that it would of course be impossible to do everything in just two to three days. But a lot more time than two to three days has already passed, and the success of your work in this regard depends on your willingness to take decisive measures to restore order in the mass media. Of course if the CPCz leadership and the CSSR government continue to pursue a policy of non-interference in this matter in the future, these processes will continue unabated.