havel was quite popular throughout his career. however, some of his actions caused controversy and criticism. one of his first acts as a president was to pardon many people. he wanted to reduce the number of people in overcrowded prisons and release people who had been put in prison during the communist era even though they were innocent. he did not trust the decisions of a corrupt court of the previous government. he thought the courts had been unfair to most people in prison. critics said that this amnesty caused more crime. in his memoir, "to the castle and back", havel wrote that most of the people he released had less than a year left to stay in prison. statistics about this are not clear.