In 1976, the Plastics and other people from the underground scene were arrested and put on trial (after performing at the Third festival of the second culture) by the Communist government to make an example. They were convicted of "organized disturbance of the peace" and sentenced to terms in prison ranging from 8 to 18 months. Paul Wilson was deported even though he had left the band in 1972. Although the band was not associated with politics, the Communist regime's accusations against them ended up with many protests. It was partly in protest of these arrests and prosecution that playwright Václav Havel and others wrote the Charter 77. The Trial of the Plastics became a milestone for opposition against the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia for human rights.