Did Czech President Petr Pavel sign the anti-communist declaration of the citizens' initiative called Charter 77 retrospectively to correct his former membership in the Communist Party? No, that's not true: The Charter 77 movement came to an end in 1992, 31 years before Pavel became president on March 9, 2023.
The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) on September 19, 2023, with a caption that read (translated from Czech to English by Lead Stories staff): "I would really like to the see the smart ass that advises Petr Pavel." The person in the video says (translated from Czech to English by Lead Stories staff):
I thought it was already been schizophrenic when that fool from the castle signed the Charter 77 retrospectively...
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Oct 24 07:30:52 2023 UTC)
When Pavel became president in 2023 it wouldn't make sense to sign the Charter 77 declaration, which urged the former Communist government of then-Czechoslovakia to respect democracy and human rights. His election was 34 years after the regime was overthrown by the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The Charter 77 initiative ended in 1992 as its representatives felt it had fulfilled its historical role. Here is the full list of signatories.
Pavel, born in 1961, became the Czech president on March 9, 2023, after winning the election on January 28, 2023. He was previously a professional soldier in the army, both before and after the end of communism in 1989. He was also a former member of the Czechoslovak Communist Party. Before being sworn as president, he served as chairman of the NATO's Military Committee and also as the chief of staff of the Czech army.
The Czech media addressed the issue of Pavel´s communist past extensively during the presidential campaign in 2023, for example here, here and here. Pavel himself apologized for his communist past and his former views, which were in line with the then-regime´s ideology.
