May 21, Pozirk. On Solidarity Day, Belarusian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aleś Bialacki urged the international community not to lift sanctions on Belarus until all political prisoners are freed and repression ends.
The prominent human rights advocate and former political prisoner spoke at a forum in Vilnius on May 21, the third part of the Congress on Belarusian Political Prisoners. The first part was held in Poznań on May 19.
“If it was not for sanctions, we would have remained in prison. We must clearly understand this,” he said.
Bialacki thanked the governments of Lithuania, Poland and other countries for hosting Belarusian political prisoners expelled by the authoritarian regime.
Belarusian dissidents mark May 21 as Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners. Rights defenders established the observance in memory of Belarusian dissident Vitold Ašurak, who died behind bars on May 21, 2021.
Human rights defenders said Ašurak died after suffering a serious head injury in prison and being denied timely medical care.
Their conclusion is based on 18 testimonies from former inmates who served sentences at the Škłoŭ penal colony between December 2020 and June 2024. The government investigation into his death has stalled. Belarus has more than 800 documented political prisoners, but “the real number is higher because there are prisoners we are not aware of, there are families that are afraid to speak out, there are cases that don’t make headlines,” opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja said.
