12 November 2020 | Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Telegram channel
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Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya declared Raman Bandarenka, who died after being beaten by the security forces, a hero of Belarus and asked to continue the resistance to the regime.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s speech:
I cannot begin to imagine what horror a mother is going through who has to bury her own child. I wish to address the mother of Raman Bandarenka. Please accept my deepest condolences. Your son became an innocent victim of the horrible system. But for each one of us, he will always be a Hero of this country.
I did not know Raman personally. But I know that his murder is a crime which will be fully investigated and all perpetrators will be brought to justice.
I know that Raman served in the Special Forces which means that special forces officers should stand up for a fellow officer. Silence would be a betrayal of military honor.
We don’t have enough words to describe the pain we are going through, but we are declaring mourning in the country for the next few days. We can only survive this pain together, standing together in the chains of memory tomorrow and coming to the march this weekend.
We know we will never surrender to those who are ready to kill us. We will take to the streets to protest. We will increase the strike movement. We will deprive the regime of any resources for existence. We will keep pushing for new sanctions, international prosecution and punishment of all criminals.
We will do everything that weakens the regime, restores the law and brings us closer to free elections. In the memory of Raman Bandarenka, for the sake of all political prisoners, for our close and loved ones, for ourselves, and in the name of every person who was killed for their wish to live in New Belarus.
