Lukashenka ”hunt” begun in London

Campaign Give a Body Back and movement Lukashenka Busters were launched in Great Britain.

Give a Body Back is organized by Natallia Kaliada, Mikalai Khalezin, Iryna Bagdanava and the initiative Free Belarus Now.

The campaign was launched in Amsterdam last October at the first night of the play of the Belarusian Free Theater “Trash Cuisine”. The play tells about the hideous practice of death penalty in Belarus and the entire world.

Campaign Give a Body Back includes a range of demands:

1. Abolition of the death penalty in Belarus.

2. Completion of the investigation of the cases of the kidnapped persons and return of their bodies to the families.

3. Return of the bodies of the executed to their families.

4. Release of the political prisoners.

Organisers of the campaign stated in their letters to the European Union leadership that only imposition of strict targeted sanctions against Belarusian regime accompanied by opening up borders to the Belarusian citizens through easing visa requirements will put enough pressure on the Belarusian regime to stop the violation of human rights

On October 5, 2012, in public places of Amsterdam several dozens of volunteers lay down on the ground in body bags. Other volunteers were gathering signatures under the petition.

This time the activists of Free Belarus Now and the Belarusian Free Theater decided to organize a campaign in London where a set of plays “Trash Cuisine” started on may 30 in Young Vic theater.

Get a Body Back in London

The 6th of June was picked as the day when the campaign was resumed because on that day the allied troops opened the second front which made the victory in the WWII possible.

Young people got inside body bags and froze for one hour on three key squares of London – Trafalgar, Westminster and Piccadilly – at 8 a.m. on 6th June

These volunteers joined the campaign announced by the Belarusian Free Theater and Free Belarus Now and supported by the well-known British actor Jude Law.

Viewers of the Free Theater, British students, members of the company, common people joined the action as volunteers. The entire staff of the British editorial house Oberon took part in the action.

A photo of the action Give a Body Back appeared in The Guardian’s “Photo of the Day”.

Letters to European leaders

Before the action, all European and international institutions received letters and body bags with police badges with the names of the kidnapped, murdered or executed Belarusians: Dzmitry Zavadski, Yury Zakharanka, Viktar Ganchar, Anatol Krasouski, Aleg Biabienin, Dzmitry Kanavalau, Ulad Kavaliou. The body bags were sent by the organizers of the action.

In the letters, the European institutions were urged to press the Belarusian powers.

Similar bags were sent to the state institutions of Belarus that are related to the murders or suspected of hiding facts. They got different letters that said that these institutions had been or still are associated with the doings that imply legal responsibility.

Meeting with Minister Lidington

Before the action in London, Lubou Kavaliova, the mother of Uladzislaw Kavaliou who had been executed on charges of the explosion in the Minsk underground, Nastassia Dashkievich, the wife of the political prisoner Zmitser Dashkievich, and director of the Belarusian Free Theater Natallia Kaliada met with David Lidington, Minister of State at the Foreign Office and Minister for Europe.

“I met Belarusian human rights defenders Lubou Kavaliova and Nastassia Dashkievich and heard how they, and their families, have suffered as a result of the actions of the government in Belarus. Lubou Kavaliova’s son, Uladzislaw, was executed in 2012 following a trial that was widely criticised as failing to meet international standards. Despite repeated requests to the authorities, she has not been informed where he is buried.

Nastassia Dashkievich’s husband, Zmister, is one of a number of political prisoners in Belarus.

“I commended Lubou Kavaliova and Nastassia Dashkievich for their bravery and assured them that the UK would continue to work to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Belarus. I stressed that the UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. I strongly urge Belarus to introduce a moratorium on executions immediately and work towards the abolition of the death penalty. I also call on the Belarusian government to release and rehabilitate all political prisoners”

“Trash Cuisine’s” triumph in London

Positive reviews of the Belarusian Free Theater’s play “Trash Cuisine” were published in all leading papers of Great Britain. The play’s main theme is the death penalty in Belarus.

According to Mikalai Khalezin, the director of the Free Theater, during the first night on 6th June the audience gathered a number of celebrities.

“One of the viewers was John Sweeney, a famous journalist, a BBC star who had been an Observer journalist for 12 years, reporting on war, revolutions and rebellions in more than 60 countries including Algeria, Bosnia, Chechnya and Zimbabwe. Once he came to an action of support of the Belarusian political prisoners held in London where Jude Law and Kevin Spacey were taking part. After the action, Jude and I worked together in the play “Generation Jeans” in the British Parliament. Having seen the play, John decided to work closely with the Belarusian issue,” Mikalai Khalezin said.

“John has made a movie and written a book dedicated to Dzmitry Kanavalau and Ulad Kavaliou. In one of the movie’s scenes, John gets inside a refrigerator with temperatures below zero and tries to stay with his legs and arms stretched out – in order to understand what the Belarusian political prisoners feel during the tortures. He manages to stay this way for 46 seconds.”

Another guest was Thupten Samdup, Dalai Lama’s representative. Natallia Kaliada met him and Tibetan Prime Minister in refuge Lobsang Sangay during the recent Forum of Freedom in Oslo.

I hadn’t met actress Ruth Wilson in person until last night. In 2012, at the stage of the theater Donmar we were watching the play “Anna Kristi” with Ruth and Jude Law. She was awarded with Oliver prize in nomination for the best female part for this role. Ruth said she admires “Trash Cuisine”, and she also said that that was the first time she had seen a play that interacts with all five sense organs.

After the play, Lubou Kavaliova, Nastassia Dashkievich, leader of Free Belarus Now Iryna Bagdanava and Natallia Kaliada took part in a public discussion. Bill Browder, author of the Magnitsky Act was the host of the discussion.

After the discussion followed the presentation of the poster “Fuck Realpolitik” (by Natallia Kaliada, Mikalai Khalezin, Simon Annand and Yagor Shumski) which will become one of the campaign’s official posters targeted against the double-standards politics.

Rally near London Stock Exchange

A protest rally against the cooperation between British trade companies and the Belarusian regime was held on 7th June near London Stock Exchange. Its participants demanded from such companies as ENRC, Metinvest and Ferrexpo to leave any common business that they have with Lukashenka. In particular, these companies cooperate with the Belarusian enterprise Belshina, and, according to the organizers of the rally, give financial support to the dictator.

The rally was organized by a group of activists of different organizations that call themselves Lukashenka Busters.

“Some people think all countries that violate human rights should be boycotted. Other people believe trade always is a good force for change. But did selling raw materials to Nazi Germany really help spur democratic values in Germany?

In Belarus today the economy is in shambles. The dictator Lukashenka is holding on by a straw. His main influx of cash comes from companies directly controlled by him whose profits go directly into the KBG and the apparatus he uses to jail, torture and oppress any opposition. One of the biggest such companies is called "Belshina". Let's start with it. Millions of shareholders of ENRC, METINVEST and Ferrexpo, that all make business with Belshina, deserve to know that their money funds repressions in Belarus,” the organizers of the action emphasize in their press-release.