An 87-year-old record-holder will be tried for having a flag on her balcony, law enforcement officers published an open letter, Kalesnikava was awarded a prize in the field of human rights, and the Belarusian Culture Solidarity Foundation is holding an auction in support of the repressed Belarusians
12 December 2020 | BYHelp-Mediagroup
An 87-year-old woman will be tried for having the flag on her balcony
In Minsk, 87-year-old Lizaveta Bursava will be tried for having a white-red-white flag placed on the balcony of her apartment. Many of the elderly woman’s relatives were killed by the Nazis during World War II, and she managed to escape on the last evacuation train in July 1941. Like many Jews, Lizaveta knows firsthand what Nazism is. Her nephew, historian Aliaksandr Bely, believes that nowadays the government that will try Lizaveta is demonstrating continuity with Nazism. Lizaveta’s son, Yauhen, is serving arrest in Zhodzina for protests near the Emergency Hospital in Minsk.
Lizaveta herself repeatedly defended the honor of her country in shooting competitions in the 1950s, was a multiple champion and record holder of the BSSR; she was also the USSR record holder and participated in international competitions.
An open letter from the law enforcement agencies of Belarus – they demand new elections
More than a hundred current and former employees of the army and law enforcement of Belarus signed an open letter. The authors made a statement about criminal orders from the authorities and called for a new presidential election in accordance with the international rules. In their opinion, the current legal crisis leads to the devaluation of legal norms and basic human values. The law enforcement agencies’ leadership actions discredit the security officials in the eyes of society, damaging the prestige of the profession.
“A lot of our colleagues were involved in the execution of criminal orders by a group of people illegally holding power in our country. This group of people, hiding behind the slogans of patriotism and violating the Constitution, only defends their material interests, trying to suppress the will of Belarusian people and to preserve their job positions and illegally obtained property.
“The legal default taking place in our country leads to the devaluation of the rule of law and human values. The actions of the leadership of a number of law enforcement agencies have discredited us and our colleagues in the eyes of society, inflicting an irreparable blow on the reputation of our profession,” the appeal says.
The letter can be signed by current and resigned employees of the law enforcement agencies. Signatures are still being collected; they will be published when their number exceeds 1,000.
Maria Kalesnikava was honoured with a prize in the field of human rights
The Gerhart and Renate Baum Foundation has awarded Maria Kalesnikava with the Human Rights Prize. This award is “a bow to the courage and uncompromisingness of a fighter”, the foundation said on Saturday, 12 December.
The prize is 10,000 euros. The prize will be awarded at the ECLAT New Music Festival on 7 February 2021 in Stuttgart. The artistic director of the ECLAT festival Christine Fischer, who worked with Kalesnikava for a long time, noted that Maria always wanted to reach out to people in order to change the world for the better. Kalesnikava’s sister Tatsiana Khomich will receive the award on behalf of Maria who has been in custody since the beginning of September.
Singer IOWA will auction her painting to support repressed Belarusians
The vocalist of the IOWA band Ekaterina Ivanchikova put up a painting of her authorship at an auction. The painting depicts the singer herself in the form of a bird that radiates confidence in the correctness of the chosen path. All proceeds from the sale of the painting will go to the Belarusian Culture Solidarity Foundation. This is the way in which the famous Belarusian decided to help Belarusian cultural figures who have suffered from repression.
For more information on the events of 12 December 2020, please visit Infocenter Free Belarus 2020:
