In defence

The following petition was published on 3rd November in Nouvel Observateur.

"A smear campaign was started in order to destroy the reputation of Milan Kundera, portraying him as an informer when he was a student in 1950 in Communist Czechoslovakia.

We notice that Kundera has refuted this accusation and that a testimony from one of the most distinguished figures of Prague clearly proves his innocence. We also notice that the press spread this slanderous rumour without professionalism, especially without presenting sufficient evidence.

This an attempt to dishonour one of the greatest living writers through suspicion. We condamn this slanderous campaign and affirm our solidarity with Milan Kundera."

Signed by: John M. Coetzee (Nobel Prize), Jean Daniel, Carlos Fuentes, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Nobel Prize), Nadine Gordimer (Nobel Prize), Juan Goytisolo, Pierre Mertens, Orhan Pamuk (Nobel Prize), Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie and Jorge Semprun.