Mysterious death of vice speaker of Belarusian parliament remembered in Prague (Photo)

Today Belarusian political prisoners have held a memorial rally in Prague dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the death of Henadz Karpenka, the former Vice Speaker of the Supreme Soviet of the 13th convocation.

The rally was held in the Prague district of Troja in front of the Belarusian Embassy. In the end of the event the Belarusian Ambassador was given a demand with a request to carry out an open investigation of Henadz Karpenka’s death and deaths of abducted Belarusian oppositional politicians.

“Today, April 6, 2009 is a tragic date. This day marks 10 years when the well-known Belarusian pro-democracy politician, scientist, football referee and just a good person, Henadz Karpenka, is not with us. Death stopped him on takeoff, when it seemed that he had so much to do in the future. Ten long years have passed, but questions concerning Henadz Karpenka’s death are still unsolved,” the address reads.

As Belarusians of Prague state, the death of Henadz Karpenka was sudden.

“Friends say that he had never had health complains. There is an opinion among Belarusian oppositional community that the death of Henadz Karpenka is connected with disappearances of Yury Zakharanka and Viktar Hanchar. In 1999 these politicians were abducted by representatives of the dictatorship, and assassinated. Health problems of Henadz Karpenka are considered to be connected with a possible poisoning of the politician.

The authorities haven’t carried out any investigation of this death, attributing it to an accident. But we, Belarusians, remember Henadz Karpenka, and we demand to disclose the truth about death and deaths of his assassinated like-minded persons,” the Belarusian political refugees stated.