Free theatre awarded with French Republic’s prize

The Belarusian Free Theatre was awarded with the French Republic’s human rights prize, “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité,” on 10 December.

According to the information of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs the ceremony was held in Paris, in the Palace of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The prizewinners of this year were: Mo Shaping, Li Jingsong, Teng Biao, attorneys for the rights defense movement in China; the Free Theater of Minsk, represented by playwright Mikola Khalezin and journalist Natalya Kalyada, which produces plays in Belarus promoting freedom of expression; the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, for its action in furthering freedom of expression in the Mediterranean region; the association “Enfants solidaires d’Afrique et du Monde,” which fights child trafficking in Benin; the Maurice Sixto Shelter which combats the domestic slavery of children in Haiti.

As BelaPAN informed earlier, the prize is awarded annually since 1988 by the National Advisory Commission on Human Rights – the independent advisory and initiative institute in the field of human rights at the prime Minister of France.

“It is a great honour for us,” Mikola Kjhalezin said in the interview to BelaPAN, “because we received the prize of such level for freedom of creativity. It means the Belarusian issue is topical in Europe.”

It should be reminded that the Free Theatre has no own stage, place for rehearsal, source of financing in Belarus, so the performances are given in different places. As a rule such performances are not widely advertised to avoid incidents. At the same time the company often have tours abroad, took part in some big international theatre festivals. In April 2007, the company became a full member of the European Theatre Convention.

The Free Theatre refused the testimonial of the French Republic’s human rights prize in favour of representatives of Belarusian counterculture. Mikola Khalezin, art director of the theatre said it.

“We are passing the testimonial to those people, whose relatives are in prisons for politically motivated reasons, whose relatives were kidnapped and killed, and to those representatives of counterculture, who have to work in awful conditions in Belarus,” Natalya Kalyada, director of the Free Theatre, said on the ceremony in the presence chamber of French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We are doing our work not for money, but for the opportunity to work and create freely,” M. Khalezin said. The testimonial will be transferred by the organisers via special funds of support of Belarusian counterculture.

As M. Khalezin said, Mrs Rama Yade, Secretary of State for Human Rights at French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke on the occasion of Libya leader Muammar al-Gaddafi’s visit to France, which has provoked ambiguous reactions in the French society. She urged her colleagues in the government to conduct signing of contracts with the demand of guarantees in the field of human rights. On the ceremony The Belarusian delegation expressed their support of the Secretary of State presented her a bunch of white and red roses tied with jeans ribbon. They also explained the sense of the bunch: “white colour is a symbol of complicity, red colour symbolises courage, jeans is a sign of Belarusian solidarity.”

The prize is awarded annually since 1988 by the National Advisory Commission on Human Rights – the independent advisory and initiative institute in the field of human rights at the prime Minister of France.

Belarus Free Theatre has no own stage, place for rehearsal, or source of financing. The performances are shown underground. At the same time the company often have tours abroad, took part in some big international theatre festivals. In April 2007, the company became a full member of the European Theatre Convention.