The sponsors of the action of solidarity with Mikola Statkevich and Zmitser Dashkevich have collected 2.500 signatures out of 5000 needed under the petition to be filed to governments of the EU countries.
Dr Marek Migalski, a MEP from Poland, initiated the campaign. Co-authors of the petition were Mikola Statkevich’s wife, Marina Adamovich, and Zmitser Dashkevich’s fiancée, vice-president of “Young Front”, Nasta Palazhanka. They call upon the leaders of the EU member states to take permanent actions in order to achieve the release and rehabilitation of Mikola Statkevich and Zmitser Dashkevich, as well as other Belarusian political prisoners and immediately appeal to Belarus’ government demanding to stop tortures and other forms of inhuman treatment of political prisoners and stop the prosecution of Mikola Statkevich and Zmitser Dashkevich.
“We deeply believe that only consistent action and a common position of the EU member states can lead to the release of Belarusian political prisoners,” the petition says.
Citizens of Belarus, Poland, Russia, Canada, etc. attached their names to the document.
Mikalai Statkevich
Ex-presidential candidate, leader of the Belarusian Social-Democratic Party (Hramada), Mikalai Statkevich was adjudged guilty of mass riot organization on December, 19, 2010. On May 26, 2012 the court sentenced him to six-year imprisonment in a maximum security penal colony. Statkevich has still not filed a petition for pardon addressed to president Aliaksandr Lukashenka, and according to his wife Maryna Adamovich, this is the reason for tough measures being taken towards him.
Zmitser Dashkevich
Eduard Lobau and Zmitser Dashkevich were attacked by a group of unknown men a day before the 2010 presidential elections. After short scuffling police showed up and arrested Dashkevich and Lobau, accusing them of beating two inhabitants of Minsk. According to the opposition members this whole issue had a political character. The goal was to prevent the two men from participating in the demonstration to be held the following day. Zmitser Dashkevich was sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment for «malicious hooliganism» (Article 339, part 3 of the Criminal Code). Dashkevich was repeatedly put in a punishment isolation cell of the penal colony. In September, 2011 the activist was offered to file a petition for pardon addressed to Alexander Lukashenka but he rejected the proposal.
Here everyone may sign a petition to leaders of the EU member states, to bring to their knowledge the information about Belarusian prisoners of conscious, who are prosecuted, oppressed and treated in an inappropriate way in jails.
Belsat
