Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted

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The Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted (VONS) was a Czechoslovak dissident group formed mainly by Charter 77 signatories. It was established on 27 April 1978. Seventeen dissidents helped start VONS: Rudolf Battěk; Otta Bednářová; Jarmila Bělíková; Václav Benda; Jiří Dienstbier; Václav Havel; Přemysl Janýr; Elzbieta Ledererová; Václav Malý; Ivan Medek; Dana Němcová; Ludvík Pacovský; Jiří Ruml; Gertruda Sekaninová-Čakrtová; Anna Šabatová; Jan Tesař; Petr Uhl.

VONS aimed to support dissidents and their families and to educate the public about their plight. Although founded largely by Charter 77 signatories, it operated largely independently from Charter 77.

VONS was a member of the International Federation for Human Rights, under the name Czechoslovak League for Human Rights. It also cooperated with organizations like Amnesty International and Helsinki Watch.

Many founders, including Václav Havel, later entered politics after the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Soon after the group was founded, Havel and five other representatives were arrested and sentenced to two to five years in prison. Many members faced persecution by the StB, the Czechoslovak secret police.