In August 2020, after the fraudulent presidential election, thousands of protesters took to the streets calling for fair elections and freedom. Since then, the civil society in Belarus continues to protest, in a peaceful manner, against the unlawful actions of the authoritarian regime in Minsk.
As stated by the European Union External Action Service, the EU stands firmly with the people of Belarus and pays tribute to their courage and perseverance, as they continue to stand strong in the pursuit of true democratic change in their country, despite the brutal actions perpetrated by the authorities led by Lukashenka. Over the past six months, we have witnessed human rights violations and abuses, including arbitrary arrests as well as torture targeting the opposition, journalists, media workers, civil society, trade unionists and students. There have also been cases of extreme police brutality, which led to the death of innocent people, with no credible investigations conducted by the authorities. More than a thousand persons have been subject to politically motivated charges and many of them have already been sentenced by the courts. To date, 256 persons in Belarus are considered aspolitical prisoners (Source HRC Viasna).
This event, organised by FIDU - Italian Federation for Human Rights and Supolka - Belarusian Association in Italy, aims to shed light on the current situation in Belarus and to support the democratic aspirations of Belarusian society also calling for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily and unlawfully detained.
SPEAKERS:
Valiantsin Stefanovic — Deputy Chair of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”
Dzianis Kuchynski — Senior foreign affairs officer, Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya
Marina Zolotova — Editor-in-chief of TUT.BY
Jacopo Iacoboni — Journalist at La Stampa
Roberto Rampi — Member of the Italian Senate and Secretary of the national delegation from Italy at PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe)
Ekaterina Ziuziuk — Spokesperson of Supolka, Belarusian Association in Italy
Moderator: Eleonora Mongelli — Vice President of FIDU – Italian Federation for Human Rights
