US Congress to hear on Belarus Democracy Act

This was said by Congressman Christopher Smith at a meeting with representatives of the Belarusian democratic movement.

Relatives of arrested presidential candidates Iryna Bahdanava (Andrei Sannikov’s sister), Eva Nyaklyaeva (Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu’s daughter), as well as Free Theatre director Natalia Kaliada, politician Alyaksandr Kazulin, journalist Yulia Slutskaya, and other representatives of Belarusian civil society are on a visit to the United States now.

Belarusians had an opportunity to meet the leading American politicians and tell them about the situation in Belarus. Alyaksandr Kazulin met with House Speaker John Boehner and offered to resume hearings on Belarus in the UN Security Council and consider an issue on rigging the presidential election results and the ensuing repressions. Kazulin suggested that the international community should consider leaders of the Belarusian democratic movement legal representatives of the people of Belarus and demand free transparent elections to be held in Belarus.

Iryna Bahdanava announced the start of Free Belarus Now! campaign, which means sending letters to international courts asking to initiate cases concerning human rights violations in Belarus after the events of December 19. Such letters are also expected to be sent to four commissions of the United Nations.

Journalist Yulia Slutskaya told about terrorizing the independent media by the authorities and called on American journalists not to forget our country. She said the theme of monstrous repressions against Belarusian journalists and civil society must remain in focus of the civilized world and solidarity of American journalists could contribute to it.

Iryna Bahdanava and Eva Nyaklyaeva could convey the American political elite the pain that families of dictatorship’s prisoners for their political view feel.

The American politicians said Belarus would remain in the spotlight and the US Congress would soon hear on a special Belarus Democracy Act. Senators Dick Durbin, Joe Lieberman, and John Boehner have already supported adoption of the document.