Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, awarded the EU's Sakharov Prize in 2020 for freedom of thought, is widely recognised as the real winner of that year's presidential election in Belarus – a country infamous as Europe’s last dictatorship. The election laid bare Belarusian democracy as a sham.

In this joint event with Edinburgh University’s Political Union we will hear from her about the ongoing brutality of Aleksandr Lukashenko’s regime and the enormity of the struggle to achieve a viable democracy. But we will also reflect and discuss the actions big and small we can take in Scotland and the U.K. to show our solidarity with the movement for democracy in Belarus.

Propped up by Putin, Lukashenko has been president of Belarus since 1994. However, his claim of victory in 2020 was rejected by hundreds of thousands of Belarusians who peacefully took to the streets in protest. The response by the regime was swift and brutal. Demonstrators were rounded up and detained in their thousands. The human rights organisation Viasna maintains a public record of all political prisoners, such as journalist Dzianis Ivashyn. Originally detained by the KGB, last week, following a secret trial, he was sentenced to 13 years.

Now, two years later, there are 1,324 political prisoners, and 5,000 more are being prosecuted for ‘politically motivated crimes’. These include political leaders like Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s husband, Sergei. Already in solitary confinement for the past two years, he is in a punishment cell where he is banned from reading books or writing letters. Despite international condemnation the evidence of human rights abuses on political prisoners continues to emerge.

85% of Belarusians oppose their country's involvement in Russia's war in Ukraine. But their voices are being crushed. 18-year-old Pavel Piskun received three years in prison for sharing photos of Russian troops on Telegram channels. University student Danuta Peradnia is now serving over 6 years for posting a message on social media condemning the invasion and calling for peaceful protest.

The enormity of the struggle being faced by people in Belarus can be overwhelming. Yet still they continue to show acts of courage in the hope of a better future. As we appreciate their sacrifice, in this meeting we will discuss together actions we can take to show the hand of friendship to those that share our values of democracy, human rights, rule of law, and peace. And how we too can hope for a better future and peace in Europe.

Space is limited so registration is required.

New venue location: The Meeting Room at The Quaker Meeting House on 7 Victoria Terrace (above Victoria Street)

Democracy and Human Rights in Belarus