200,000 Czechs Protest for Reform

PRAGUE, Czechoslovakia--More than 200,000 people filled the streets of Prague yesterday, demanding free elections and the resignation of its hard-line leader in the largest protest ever in this Communist nation.

For the first time in decades, major protests involving tens of thousands of citizens also broke out in other cities, state-run Czechoslovak television said.

The protests posed the greatest threat to date to the rigid model of Communist government that has prevailed here since a Soviet-led invasion crushed the "Prague Spring" reform movement in 1968.

Czechoslovak TV said at least 200,000 people took part in the march in the capital. It also reported 20,000 protesters in the city of Brno, 10,000 in Bratislava and 5000 in Liberec.

"Freedom!" and "End to one party rule!" cried the demonstrators in Prague. Their protest began with a few hundred people in central Wenceslas Square and turned into a triumphal march for democracy, accompanied by the clanging of bells from sympathetic trolley-car drivers. Bystanders jangled their keys in solidarity.

From Wenceslas Square, the protesters set out for Hradcany Castle, a national symbol and the residence of President Gustav Husak. They were blocked by police barriers and later dispersed peacefully after a three-hour march.

"It's the end, Milos!" the demonstrators shouted, referring to Communist Party chief Milos Jakes. To fellow Czechoslovaks, they chanted, "Stop being afraid!"

Jakes responded by warning the demonstrators not to go too far.

"Any attempts to disrupt social and political stability...can only seriously threaten the implementation of necessary change and bring the society into a crisis with unforeseeable consequences," the 67-year-old leader said on television.

In a sharp break with usual practice, television broadcasters devoted extensive coverage to the demonstrations, and the official news agency CTK and Czechoslovak radio reported the protesters' demands for free elections.

Some of the protesters carried banners reading "Red murderers to court"--a reference to the alleged death of mathematics student Martin Smid. Dissidents say Smid was killed Friday by police, but the government called reports of the death "an unfounded rumor."

The demonstrators also supported a general strike called by students and artists for November 27.

Czechoslovakia's government also has rejected reforms, but yesterday's protest in Prague was the fourth in as many days and indicated severe trouble for the leadership.