English

Some 30 people demonstrate in Warsaw to demand freedom for Dashkevich, Statkevich

Some 30 people staged a demonstration in Warsaw on November 18 to demand the release of Belarusian political prisoners Zmitser Dashkevich and Mikalay Statkevich.

The event had been organized by the office of European Parliament member Marek Migalski and a Belarusian opposition group called European Belarus.

The demonstrators included Natallya Radzina, editor in chief of the popular Belarusian opposition news site charter97.org, now based in the Polish capital, and Zmitser Barodka, director of the Belarusian House in Warsaw, according to Mr. Migalski's press office. Belarusians based in Belgium, France, Lithuania and Switzerland had also traveled to the Polish capital to attend the demonstration.

During the demonstration a documentary was shown on a big screen about the authorities' brutal crackdown on the post-election opposition demonstration in Minsk on December 19, 2010 and the subsequent imprisonment of many opposition leaders.

In October, the office of Mr. Migalski launched a campaign of solidarity with Messrs. Statkevich and Dashkevich.

A website, www.2free.eu, was launched in the framework of the campaign to provide updates on the situations of Messrs. Statkevich and Dashkevich and efforts taken by Mr. Migalski and his office to secure the release of the political prisoners.

A petition urging the heads of state of the European Union countries to speak about the "Belarusian prisoners of conscience who are persecuted, oppressed and who are mistreated in prison" is available on the website. //BelaPAN