Photo: Vít Šimánek, ČTK
Former dissident and Charter 77 signatory Jiří Gruntorád is on the fourth day of his hunger strike outside the seat of the Czech government in Prague. He is calling for the labour and social affairs minister, Marian Jurečka, to resign over his treatment of ex-dissidents who now live on extremely small pensions.
Jiří Gruntorád is particularly upset about a letter that a fellow former dissident, Karel Soukup, received from the labour ministry, rejecting his request for a pension recalculation that would have allowed him to receive the nationwide average pension. In it, Soukup was allegedly advised to try applying for additional social benefits. Gruntorád says that Soukup receives a monthly pension of CZK 6000 (about EUR 250).
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Authors: Anna Fodor, Jana Karasová,
Sources: ČTK,Český rozhlas