viasna on patreon

25 Members of Parliament from France take on a symbolic godparenthood for political prisoners in Belarus

2023 2023-04-28T14:13:00+0300 2023-05-24T16:24:16+0300 en https://spring96.org/files/images/sources/westandbyyou-uebersicht-parlamentarier-politische-gefangene-belarus.jpg The Human Rights Center “Viasna” The Human Rights Center “Viasna”
The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

On 21 March 2023, given the background of intensified repression against the opposition in Belarus, the France-Belarus Interparliamentary Friendship Group in the French Senate organized a conference to adopt 25 political prisoners in Belarus.

The Belarusian regime has intensified its repression against the opposition in recent months. Both 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya have been sentenced to long prison terms. Charles Guené, Republican Party Senator and Chairman of the France-Belarus Friendship Group, observes that prison conditions and repressive laws in Belarus have since become more severe, and the term terrorism is now used to describe political opponents.

The conference on 21 March therefore aimed to address the ongoing and increased forms of repression in Belarusian society and to send an important signal of support by taking on the godparenthood for 25 political prisoners. Brigitte Devésa, Member of the French Senate and member of the Interparliamentary Friendship Group France-Belarus, has taken on the godparenthood for Adam Sauko and positions herself in solidarity with all persons in Belarus who suffer from the “totalitarism” of the regime:

https://twitter.com/DEVESA3/status/1638668432068558848

Senate deputy Joël Guerriau expresses himself in a similar way, and wishes to stand up for freedom of expression and democracy in Belarus through his symbolic godparenthood for political prisoner Viktar Kazlouski:

screenshot-2023-05-24-143321.png
“To defend freedom of expression and #democracy I am sponsoring Viktar #KAZLOUSKI, a 23 year old #Belarusian political activist still in prison for his peaceful participation in the August 2020 protests.”

25 new godparents

As part of Libereco’s #WeStandBYyou solidarity campaign, 25 Members of the French Senate have decided to take on a symbolic godparenthood for political prisoners in Belarus, sending a strong message of international solidarity. We would like to express our sincere gratitude for the commitment of the France-Belarus Interparliamentary Friendship Group in the French Senate and announce the godparents as follows:

                                               

Latest news

Partnership

Membership