Candle demonstration in Bratislava

The Candle Demonstration (Slovak Sviečková demonštrácia, Sviečková manifestácia or Bratislavskı Velky piatok - " Bratislava Good Friday " ) was a demonstration on 25 March 1988 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia against the communist government. It was organized by Roman Catholic dissidents and was the first major anti-Communist demonstration in Czechoslovakia in the eighties.

At the demonstration some 2,000 people on the Hviezdoslav Square and a few thousand other people in the surrounding streets participated. The initially peaceful demonstration for religious freedom and human rights was put down by the police. Appropriate messages have been, for example, by the ORF, Radio Free Europe, Voice of America, BBC and Vatican Radio broadcast.

The former Slovak Prime Minister, Interior Minister, Minister of Culture and other leaders attended the "operation" of the inside of the Carlton Hotel on Hviezdoslav Square.

Today, March 25 is in Slovakia, the day of the fight for human rights.