Activists unmasked Lukashenko at Belorussian embassy
Kyiv, 4th August. About 20 activists voiced their solidarity with people struggling for freedom under constant political pressure conditions and persecutions in Belarus.
As The Human Rights Information Center’s reporter Mykola Mirny informs, that day in 2011 Belorussian authorities arrested a local civil rights advocate Ales Belatsky. And though Ales is already free now, human rights matters in Belarus is becoming worse with each year, an activist of Centre for Civil Liberties Olexandra Romatsova says.
So, Belarus stays the only European country where death penalty is still used. The citizens of the country are in prisons for their political views. For example after the protests following the previous presidential elections 6 people are still imprisoned. Human rights and freedom are constantly restricted in Belarus.
Four activists each of them is to symbolize freedom of elections, freedom of speech, freedom from death penalty and right for fair trial put sacks on their heads and lined up under the machine-gun of Belorussian KGB (Secret Service Police) serviceman.
During the action activists tore the masks of Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko and threw them on the floor. As Olexandra Romantsova said, human rights violations and freedom restrictions became usual in Belarus. Activists wished Belorussian society take the masks off and uphold their rights and freedoms.
The activists signed postcards for Belorussian political prisoners as well. Human rights advocates promised to pass them to the condemned.
In the meantime Ukrainian human rights advocates have applied to the President Petro Poroshenko. They ask him to express his attitude on refugee status gaining or other forms of protection for those Belorussians who have to wait for asylum in Ukraine, because of persecutions in their home country for Maidan (or Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity) support or their active and open position about events in the east of Ukraine as well. Human rights advocates asked the President to assist in refugee status gaining for those people.
Now these political prisoners are condemned in Belarus: Evhen Vaskovytch, Mykola Dyedok, Ihor Olynevytch, Artem Prokopenko, Yury Rubtsov and Mykola Statkevytch.
The European Union has decided to drop sanctions on 24 Belorussian officials, 12 from them are judges.
