International Day of Solidarity with Belarus was held for the fourth consecutive year. The events were held in several cities in Europe and the world.
You could sign a card in support of one of the six Belarusian political prisoners or simply express solidarity with the people of Belarus also in Vilnius.
International Day of Solidarity with Belarus was held for the fourth year in a row. Its starting point was on August 4, 2011, when the government illegally arrested Ales Bialiatski. Human rights activist is now free, but others activists remain imprisoned. The Lithuanian Seimas has a group of trustees of the Belarusian political prisoners. Deputy Linas Balsys is closely following the fate of the anarchist Mikalai Dzyadok.
“We as a neighboring country do care about what happens. The more democratic Belarus will be, the better it will be for the Belarusians, Lithuania and the whole European Union,” said the Deputy of the Lithuanian Seimas Linas Balsys.
Human rights activists do not talk about politics. Their job is to strengthen the sense of understanding of the problems of human rights violations. This is easily forgotten against the backdrop of economic interests. Reduction in the number of political prisoners should not be called a softening of authoritarianism.
“It would be naive to believe that the Belarusian regime is ready for soft self-transformation. We will see sooner or later another round of repressions, when the fear of the authorities gets stronger,” said the human rights activist Alena Tankachova.
Despite it being a weekday, the picket was joined by ordinary citizens.
“Belarus is our neighbor, it will always be in the interest of Lithuania to help Belarus,” said a resident of Vilnius called Justas.
Today, similar events were held in Warsaw, Kyiv, Moscow and dozens of other cities. Although the Day of Solidarity with Belarus is still quite young, the organizers point out that each year the number of participants is growing.
