Iryna Khalip: We Must Not Stop

Belarus will inevitably be free.

One of the leaders of the European Belarus civil campaign, famous journalist Iryna Khalip commented on the Meeting of Free People, which took place on November 15 in Minsk, for the Charter97.org news website:

- Today we were convinced that the regime completely lost its nerves. It would seem that there are two days left before the “chamber” elections, the city is full of OSCE observers, we are conducting a completely legal campaign, we are meeting in absolutely legal places that are designated for pickets and, nevertheless, the leaders of the European Belarus, the most prominent activists, are detained and not allowed to the venue. And this is regardless of the fact that the Meeting of Free People was announced as a meeting of like-minded people to exchange ideas and jointly search for the answer to the question # what's next, rather than a protest.

However, they lost their nerves. I’ll tell you more, we haven’t seen such a number of plain-clothed agents as today, for a long time. The sealed square, some drills, borers, perforators that drowned out sounds, broken tiles - all this confirms the inadequacy of this power.

The most important thing in today's action was that new and young people came to it, those who care about the future of our country. I really hope that there will be more of them at the next rally, that they will understand: protest is important, protecting one's dignity is not scary, and the struggle for a free Belarus is a necessity.

We must not stop. In order for the protests to become widespread and eventually lead to a change of power, we must take to the streets whenever possible. Therefore, we will all be very happy to see friends and strangers, new and old, like-minded people and opponents.

Come to the Freedom Square at 6 p.m. on November 16. And Belarus will be free!