Loreen wished freedom to Belarusians

The winner of "Eurovision" has met with the wife of Ales Bialiatski.

After her performance on “Slavyanski Bazar” in Vitebsk, Swedish singer Loreen, the winner of the current Eurovision, has met with the wife of political prisoner Ales Bialiatski, Natalya Pinchuk, the Deputy Chairman of "Viasna", Valentin Stefanovich, and independent Belarusian journalists, reports “Radio Svaboda”.

She expressed her words of support to Ales Bialiatski and other Belarusian political prisoners and signed the petition to ban the death penalty in Belarus.

For more than two hours Swedish star of a Moroccan-Berber origin had been speaking in the Swedish embassy with Natalya Pinchuk, representatives of “Viasna” and independent Belarusian mass-media.

She was especially interested in the conditions of detention of Bialiatski in prison, the number of political prisoners, the conditions for the respect of human rights, the freedom of expression in Belarus, the last year's “silent protests”.

She questioned Natalya Pinchuk in details about the case of Bialiatski and family’s life after the arrest. She admired the courage of Ales and Natalya. Natalya Pinchuk told her:

“In two days it will be a year, since Ales is in prison. This year was difficult. His is in the Bobruisk colony, in quite heavy moral and psychological conditions”.

After hearing Natalya, Loreen called her “a very strong woman”:

“I understand why Ales loves you… I really hope that everything will be fine, that soon he will be released, I wish you this from all my heart. What a pity when such a wonderful family is separated, son is in one place, mother – in another, and father is in prison. But you are fighting for the right things”.

Loreen told that she learned a lot about Belarus from Swedish human rights activists and also from her fans, who was writing to her about Belarus in social networks:

“I was happy to know that there are so many people willing to help and being able to help. They only need information about what is happening in Belarus and about how they could contribute to it”.

Loreen said that she wasn't afraid to come to Belarus.

Loreen herself was born in Morocco. She saw poverty, corruption, violation of human rights, unequal opportunities for men and women.

After she received the invitation to perform on “Slavyanski Bazar”, Loreen thought awhile if she should go to the country where human rights are violated. But she made a choice in favor of her fans:

“There are people here who enjoy my music. If I wouldn’t come, this would be disrespect to them. That is why I came to perform from this stage: to share what I have. Secondly, I came to express my opinion. I’m a free person, and I can and should do this”.

Loreen gladly signed the petition with the call to ban death penalty in Belarus. She warmly embraced Natalya Pinchuk and wished Belarusians to reach their freedom.