Activists with Posters Took the Center of Hrodna

Hrodna residents were told about the essence of Lukashenka's regime.

Hrodna activists of human rights organizations disseminated information about the death penalty in Belarus and arguments against it. The street action was fruitful. Hrodna citizens received more than a thousand leaflets against the death penalty. This action was held in the framework of the nationwide "Week against the death penalty" in public places of Hrodna. Activist of the HRC Viasna Viktar Sazonau told Radio Racyja:

- They saw with their own eyes that many people do not know anything. They say that the death penalty is required. But when they begin to argue that there is, for example, a judicial error then people start to think.

"Week against the death penalty" is clearly not enough to clarify to citizens of Belarus the arguments for abolition of the extreme penalty. Edward Dmukhouski, the Solidarity Repressed Committee, says.

- People are not ready for abolition of the death penalty. They are very aggressive. It mostly relates to women of old age. They are just crying that people should be shot. There are a lot of labels in the society. The first myth about our society is that we are supposedly very tolerant. No way. We should turn to humanism. To go to church and listen to what a priest says, and not to pretend that we go there. And we do not go there, we just need to be humanists. Only God has the right to decide who should live or die. Not a human being.

Human rights defenders are convinced that informing citizens and broad discussion can change the attitude of the masses towards the death penalty.