Belarusians pay last respects to Mikhail Marynich

A well-known Belarusian public figure and former political prisoner was buried at the Uskhodniya Cemetery in Minsk.

The funeral was attended by first head of state of independent Belarus Stanislau Shushkevich, former candidate in the 2006 presidential election Aliaksandr Kazulin, leader of the Tell the Truth civil campaign Uladzimir Niakliaeu, Narodnaya Volia editor-in-chief and managing editor Iosif Siaredzich and Sviatlana Kalinkina, head of the coordinative committee of the national platform of Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Uladzimir Matskevich, representative of the US Embassy Christopher Panico, head of the EU Delegation to Belarus Maira Mora, journalist Aliaksandr Tamkovich, chairman of the Belarusian Democratic Parties Congress Aliaksandr Yarashuk, former of head of the Minsk city executive committee and ex-prime minister Uladzimir Yarmoshyn, former head of the presidential property management directorate Ivan Tsitsiankou, head of Lukashenka's election team in 1994 Leanid Sinitsyn and others, BelaPAN reports.

As Ihar Marynich, the politician's son, noted that his father, then Belarus's ambassador to Latvia, took a decision in 2001 to run in the presidential election.

“It was his conscious choice, because the country needed help. It's hard to say whether it was right or not. Let history judge,” Ihar Marynich said. “His act was an act of a man. I have always respected and supported him. My father was an example for me when I took any decisions.

Stanislau Shushkevich noted that Mikhail Marynich was a “very conscientious and decent person”. “The mean regime and the so called president took a large part of his life. He is another victim of the regime,” he said. “He was a decent person who was always guided by conscience and honesty and loved Belarus.”

Uladzimir Matskevich noted that people in Latvia remembered Marynich as “the best Belarusian ambassador among all foreign ambassadors to Latvia”. “He was jailed for running for the presidency. It was a sign for any honest official either to quit or to keep a low profile,” Matskevich said. “His early death is caused by the prison term and health problems he had faced in prison.”

Uladzimir Yarmoshyn noted he got acquainted with Marynich at the reconstruction of a repair plant in 1969. “We were friends for 45 years,” he said. “He looked like a sympathetic person, and he really was. He always wanted to do better and always helped people.”

Yarmoshyn recalled that Marynich had been a deputy head and later head of the Minsk city executive committee. “He involved me in the city committee,” he said. Speaking about Marynich decision to run in the election, Yarmoshyn said: “It was his decision. Misha chose that way.”

Former head of the presidential property management directorate Ivan Tsitsiankou said he knew Marynich as a “very decent person”. “He always helped people and couldn't do otherwise. He did his work properly whatever posts he hold. He was not able to hurt people and he did not hurt anyone,” he said.

Uladzmir Niakliaeu noted that Marynich was “one of the brightest Belarusians” he ever met. “He loved life, loved Belarus and the people he lived with. It was the love for Belarus rather than the thirst for power that made him give up his post and oppose the people, with whom he did his career. He did it because he loved Belarus,” Niakliaeu said.

Mikhail Marynich was buried at the Uskhodniya (Maskoukiya) Cemetery in Minsk.