Today is Day of Solidarity in Belarus
Rallies of solidarity will be held in Belarus and all over the world on December 16 with an aim of attracting attention to violation of human rights in Belarus.
The Day of Belarusian Solidarity has been marked every 16th day of a month for three years. In Minsk, Belarusian regions, and in other countries, people go out to streets of their cities to demonstrate their solidarity with families of kidnapped and repressed activists of Belarusian opposition for more than three years.
Rallies are held to express solidarity with the opposition activists, sentenced to restrains of liberty. Alyaksei Bondar, Artsyom Dubski, Mikhas Kryvau, Mikhas Pashkevich, Alyaksandr Straltsou, Alyaksandr Charnyshou, Tatsyana Tsishkevich, Mikhas Subach, and Paval Vinahradau are sentenced to 2 years of restraint of liberty without sending to penal facilities for participation in protest rallies of entrepreneurs. Minor Maksim Dashuk is sentenced to 1.5 year of restraint of liberty. In Ddecember 2008, Alyaksandr Barazenka, activist of the civil campaign “European Belarus”, got 1 year of restraint of liberty for the same rally.
These people may be arrested at any moment and thrown into prison.
Day of Belarusian Solidarity was initiated three years ago by Iryna Krasouskaya, leader of the initiative “We Remember”, widow of disappeared businessman and public figure; famous journalist Iryna Khalip; and youth leader Mikita Sasim. The idea to hold days of Solidarity appeared after militia disbanded a rally dedicated to the anniversary of abduction of the Vice Speaker of the Supreme Soviet of the 13th convocation Viktar Hanchar and businessman and public leader Anatol Krasouski on September 16, 2005. Militiamen seized portraits of the disappeared politicians (people were also holding portraits of former Interior Minister Yury Zakharanka and journalist Dzmitry Zavadski the abducted in Belarus) and national flags. On that day the young leader Mikita Sasim raised his jeans shirt as a symbol of resistance to dictatorship.