BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/03/2008

Solidarity with Belarus

Warsaw has been the venue of another event supporting the independence of Belarus.

Hundreds of protesters marched through Warsaw last night chanting "Minsk and Warsaw - a common cause" and "Free Belarus". They filed a petition to the Polish parliament demanding a resolution condemning the regime of Aleksandr Lukashenko.

The demonstration marked the 90th anniversary of the proclamation of the People's Republic of Belarus. Organizers wanted to send a signal to the Belarussian opposition that Poland has not forgotten the aspirations of the Belarussian nation. The rally was also to remind Polish people that not much has changed in Belarus and it is still not a free nation.

For several years now, the Belarussian democratic opposition in Minsk organizes peaceful demonstrations on March 25th. The regime of Aleksandr Lukashenko usually crushes the rallies brutally and opposition members are arrested.

Two years ago one of the arrested was the opposition presidential candidate Aleksandr Kazulin, who was accused of organizing anti-state demonstrations and sentenced to five and a half years in a penitential colony. The politician was protesting against the results of the presidential elections of 2006, which independent observers declared to be forged. The United States and European Union are demanding that Belarus free Aleksandr Kazulin.

Source:

http://www.polskieradio.pl/zagranica/news/artykul78807.html

Google