"The war between good and evil continues in Belarus". How the Day of Dignity was celebrated in Vilnius
On August 9, the Day of Solidarity with Belarus, a rally was held in Vilnius Cathedral Square, which ended with the March of Dignity through the streets of the Lithuanian capital. About half a thousand Belarusians gathered to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the most massive and dramatic post-election protests.
Songs performed by Liavon Volski filled the square, former political prisoner Anatol Hinevich read poems written in prison, public activists, human rights activists and those recently released prisoners from Belarusian penal colonies spoke, while Belarusians performed round dances.
A well-known human rights activist, former political prisoner Leanid Sudalenka, addressed the audience:
"We have gathered here to remember thousands of Belarusian political prisoners - our brothers, our sisters, who are thrown into Belarusian prisons, where stress and constant aggressive environment gradually take away their health. Political prisoners also lose their health in punishment cells, where they are often thrown by the prison administration for flimsy reasons. They are not given bedding, mattresses or pillows. It is very cold there, especially in winter, and they are tortured by the cold. They are kept in solitary confinement with no communication with the outside world for very long periods of time."
I would like to recall the names of Belarusian human rights defenders who are in prison. They are volunteers of Viasna Marfa Rabkova and Andrei Chapiuk, leaders of the organization Uladzimir Labkovich, Valiantsin Stefanovich, well-known human rights activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski. I am also thinking of thousands of other political prisoners - political and trade union activists, journalists, simply not indifferent Belarusians, who are forced to pay this high price just for demanding changes. The war between good and evil continues in Belarus.
In these times there is one thing that cannot be taken away from us - our solidarity. Let's think every day, every hour, help the families of political prisoners, wait for them to be released alive and well," the human rights activist urged.
Leanid was joined by about thirty former political prisoners.
Many different activities were organized in the Cathedral Square: those who wanted to learn how to weave mosquito nets, children made drawings.
One of the participants of the rally, former political prisoner Mikhail Zhamchuzhny, recalled the events of four years ago, when he was imprisoned in the penal colony №9 in Horki.
"We were looking forward to this day, hoping for change. We knew what was happening in the protest circles and hoped that we would win. We secretly sewed white-red-white flags in the prison sewing room. We hid them under our coats, and one flag was even unfurled over the colony headquarters. It is obvious that the prisoners suffered because of this, and some of them were thrown into punishment cells. We believed in victory. The news reached us mainly from new prisoners that often came to the colony, and political prisoners were immediately thrown into punishment cells. We supported them as best as we could and made sure that they did not suffer from the lawlessness of the colony staff and bandits. That's how we survived. I am already free. And those who stood up bravely and together were set free. Now we are trying to do something not in the trenches, but on the front line, in the attack," Zhamchuzhny said.
The participants of the action organized round dances to the songs of Liavon Volski. And some songs were sung by Belarusians together with the musician.
At the end of the rally, the demonstrators marched in a column to the Belarusian Embassy, where the Belarusian choir performed and the demonstrators lit candles.
Rallies and Marches of Dignity were held on this day in many European cities.
