Every 16th day of the month, the Solidarity Day action takes place in Belarus.  This action is ’dedicated’ to the prisoners of conscience and missing politicians in Belarus. People light candles in their windows to demonstrate their solidarity or go out on the streets to remind Belarusians about the problem of political prisoners. (16-MAY-08)

Source  www.charter97.org   Illustrated by www.nn.by ; www.charter97.org

Solidarity action.jpgRallies with a call to the Belarusian regime to release prisoners of conscience and stop repression of members of the opposition have been held now for a few years both in Belarus and abroad. On 16 May, the Solidarity Day action once again took place in Belarus. Oppositional activists go out to the streets with portraits of the missing politicians and prisoners of conscience.

 

Kim.jpgKazulinNowadays there are three political prisoners in Belarus: former presidential candidate, leader of the Belarusian Social-Democratic Party –Aliakandr Kazulin, left, (5.5 years of prison), young oppositional activist Andrei Kim, right, (http://charter97.org/en/news/hottopic/13/ ) (1.5 years) and one of the Belarusian entrepreneurs Serghei Parsjukevich  Zakharenka.jpg (http://charter97.org/en/news/hottopic/Parsyukevich/) (2.5 years of  imprisonment).  Participants also held portraits and posters of the zavadski=small missing politicians and personalities – Victor Ghanchar,  Anatoli Krasouski, Yury Zakharenka, left, and journalist Dmitry Zavadski, right, and participants of the “case of 14” – opposition activists, convicted for participation in protest actions of entrepreneurs. (See further coverage of these actions earlier this year in numerous articles on this page)

klimau 01 bigOver the last two months political prisoners Andrei Klimau, right, Zmitser Dashkevich, Artur Finkevich, Mikalay Autukhovich, Yury Lyavonau, and the journalist Alyaksandr Zdvizhkou,  have been released. The US imposed sanctions Parsiukievic 100.jpgagainst enterprises of Belneftekhim because the regime  refused to release all political prisoners. The European Union has extended the ban to enter EU states for Belarusian officials responsible for human rights violations in Belarus. Belarusian human rights activists will call upon Amnesty International to adopt Andrei Kim and Serghei Parsjukevich, left, as prisoners of conscience.