Viasna, Free Theatre and BAJ to receive Freedom Awards

250 politicians, diplomats and experts are expected to take part in the Wroclaw Global Forum in Poland on June 9-11.

Freedom Awards will be presented at the event. The winners are chosen by the Atlantic Council of the United States. Last year, the award was given to Ladies in White – mothers, sisters, and wives of Cuban political prisoners.

The 2011 Freedom Awards will be presented to the organizations representing the Belarusian civil society and struggling for human rights in Belarus. These are the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and the Belarus Free Theater.

Egyptian blogger and founder of the youth movement for revolutionary changes, Esraa Abdel Fattah, US Senator John McCain, Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat, and founders of Gazeta Wyborcza Adam Michnik and Helena Łucywo.

The Wroclaw Global Forum will focus on Europe-US relations, the future of Belarus and revolutions in North Africa.

The event will be attended by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, Belarusian politicians Stanislau Shushkevich and Alyaksandr Milinkevich, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Alexander Vershbow.