Lida: another trial for commemorating insurgents of 1863

Another administrative case has been initiated for honoring the memory of the heroes of the 1863 anti-Russian uprising. This time the absurd repression is being used by the authorities of Lida, Hrodna region. On Wednesday, February 20, a trial of Aliaksandr Kalyshka, chairman of the public association “Polish Culture of Lida Land”, is expected to take place. He is accused of allegedly organizing an unsanctioned mass gathering. The members of the registered NGO merely laid flowers and lit candles at the burial place of priest Adam Falkouski.

The memorable place where the tsar’s soldiers killed and buried the priest is now in the town park. This tomb has been repeatedly destroyed by the present regime, but the people have restored it. Priest Adam Falkouski was executed on June 24, 1863 by the Russian army for reading the manifesto of the uprising in the village of Ishchalna (now Shchuchyn district). Lida civil activists traditionally honor the person; they have done so now, during the 150th anniversary of the uprising of 1863.

Hrodna human rights defenders believe that the constitutional rights of citizens are once again violated. The authorities have shown inadequate reaction to every manifestation of respect for the memory of the people’s ancestors and arbitrarily punished public activists with arrests and fines.