On September 16, 1999 in Belarus a vice-speaker of the Supreme Soviet Viktar Hanchar and his friend businessman Anatoly Krasouski were abducted. The fates of the former Minister of Internal Affairs Yury Zakharanka and a cameraman of the ORT channel Dzmitry Zavadsky are unknown as well. After an independent international investigation high-ranking officials were suspected of involvement in these crimes. Representatives of the civil society of Belarus proposed holding Days of Solidarity in the country. They called upon the citizens SIMPLY TO SWITCH OFF THE LIGHT at 8 p.m. on the 16th day of every month, and to light candles of Freedom for 15 minutes, as a sign of solidarity with political prisoners, disappeared oppositionists, their families, and independent journalists, with all who fight for freedom and democracy in Belarus. “We are to hold such actions regularly. Free people would see that they are many, that they are a power,” said a wife of Anatol Krasouski, Iryna Krasouskaya, a leader of the civil initiative “We Remember”.
On October 16 more than 100,000 Belarusians took part in the Day of Solidarity, on November 16 there were300,000 participants… The days of Solidarity give us an opportunity to answer the question who we are in reality, citizens or parts of the dictator’s machine, persons or a submissive herd. Hundreds thousands Belarusians have made choice. Many people have switched off the light in their houses as a sign of solidarity, and lit a candle, others simply switched off the light, others went with the candles to the streets, and some people were dressed in jeans clothes. I believe that this spring dozens of thousands of Belarusians would openly demonstrate their solidarity and will for changes, going to the streets and squares of Minsk, other Belarusian cities,” in this way the coordinator of the civil initiative Charter’97 Zmitser Bandarenka summed up the results of the Day of Belarusian Solidarity held on December 16.
“We are thankful to all those who have taken part in the action. More and more common citizens, politicians, human rights activists support us, more and more countries join us. Those who are burning candles today, tomorrow are to form a basis of future mass resistance to dictatorship, and finally, this would lead us to victory”, told a well-known journalist Iryna Khalip, who was one of the initiators of the Days of Solidarity.
