Henadz Fyadynich Is Belarusian Lech Wałęsa

As in Poland in the 1980s, the Belarusian authorities are frightened with protests of ordinary people.

Leader of the European Belarus campaign Andrei Sannikov stated that to Charter97.org when commenting on arrest and initiation of a criminal case against the head of the Independent Trade Union of Radio and Electronic Industry (REP) Henadz Fyadynich.

- The time factor is needed attention. Perhaps, Lukashenka wanted to arrest Fyadynich even earlier, but he had to wait until the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was over, a reason to hold it in the dictatorship is not clear.

Right after this the opposition has faced attacks and arrests. I think that there will be other arrests of activists and leaders of independent Trade Unions.

As once in Poland, the authority is frightened with protests of ordinary people and sees that REP plays an important role here. The REP Trade Union using a peaceful means of protesting offers negotiations to the authority and stands for every worker. It can be said that Henadz Fyadynich now performs as Lech Wałęsa, and I think that this is true.

It can be seen that the authorities are frightened to death, that the economy will not rise again and it is impossible to make it work by any cries, orders, restrictive measures. Therefore, there is a real harassment and persecution of those people who stand for changes in the country, and Henadz Fyadynich is among these people.

We demand an immediate release of him, we address to our friends abroad, to all international organizations so that they demand unconditional release of activists of Belarusian Trade Unions, and we call for carrying out actions in support of political prisoners, Andrei Sannikov stated.