The presentation was attended by diplomats, representatives of the Belarusian diaspora in Vilnius, human rights defenders and journalists. Volha Zavadskaya, a mother of the missing ORT cameraman Dzmitry Zavadski, one of the characters in the film, was also present at the event.

The documentary film “The Gang” was screened for the first time in Lithuania, it is a kind of chronicle of the disappearance of well-known figures – opponents of Aliaksandr Lukashenka. “We tried to objectively scrutinize the history, the facts and documents. All in the film- words in the shots and behind the scenes – are based on the documents in order to avoid subjectivity. And, of course, the audience should make its own conclusions “- said Raisa Mikhailovskaya (left).

“What is this film and why did we make it now? 16 years ago, on 7 May, the first political opponent of the Lukashenka’s regime, Yury Zakharanka disappeared. Since then, three more opponents of the regime have disappeared, and criminal cases opened for this matter are actually frozen now. No one knows the fate of the missing people and no one knows if the criminal cases was investigated, “- said Raisa Mikhailovskaya before the film screening.

The human rights defender also recalled that since then the new generation of Belarusians grown up, in the diplomatic corps of different countries the diplomats have changed. And, according to Raisa Mikhailovskaya, this film is needed as evidence for future history, future criminal cases. “And this also serves as moral support for relatives of the missing. Our task as human rights defenders is to preserve the evidence, “- said the author of the film.

It is important to note that the first private screening of the film took place on 8 February in the house of Ulyana Zakharanka, in Vasilevichy village, Homel region.

“When Ulyana Zakharanka watched footage of her son, she had such bright eyes, and then she burst into tears again and began once again to ask what her son and others missing had to endure in their last moments,” – said the author of the film Raisa Mikhailovskaya after the presentation.

***

Former Interior Minister Yury Zakharchanka was kidnapped by unknown men in the spring of 1999, in the fall of the same year a former member of the Supreme Council, the former Deputy Prime Minister Viktar Hanchar and businessman Anatoly Krasousky disappeared without trace. In 2000 the ORT cameraman Dzmitry Zavadzky was kidnapped. The fate of the missing opposition members has not been revealed so far.

Ms. Raisa Mikhailovskaya is the founder and director of the Belarusian Documentation Centre “Pomnim” (“Remember”) which collects and analyzes legal evidence of human rights abuses under President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.

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