November 12, Pozirk. Opposition activist Raman Bandarenka died at the hands of those who feared and continue to fear the truth, Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja has said.
Bandarenka died five years ago while in police custody after being beaten by unknown men near his house in Minsk.
Today, Belarusians commemorate his courage and striving for freedom, the politician noted on Telegram.
“We remember all those who have suffered from violence and impunity, and we insist that justice will prevail,” she said. “Belarus will become a country where you can go out into your yard and feel only peace, respect and safety. Where ‘just living’ will not endanger your life.”
Cichanoŭskaja’s associate Pavieł Łatuška pledged to seek justice for victims of politically-motivated reprisals and torture in Belarus.
“Today, as we honor the memory of Raman Bandarenka and all who gave their lives for our country’s future, we must state clearly and firmly: those responsible for these crimes must be brought to justice,” he stressed.
“We have not accepted Raman’s death, nor forgotten those responsible. We know their names,” the politician said. “We will keep working to restore the rule of law in Belarus, where murderers and executioners will one day face a fair trial.”
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Belarus in September 2021 suspended an investigation into Bandarenka’s violent death, citing failure to identify the perpetrator.
Late on November 11, 2020, Bandarenka, 31, went out of his home in Minsk to find out why unknown masked men were taking down white and red ribbons from a courtyard fence. He was then brutally beaten, taken to a police station and rushed to hospital in a coma a few hours later. He died from a head injury without regaining consciousness the following day.
On February 18, 2021, the Prosecutor General’s Office said that law enforcement officers had not been involved in the attack on Bandarenka.
The activist’s death sparked a massive public outcry, with protests staged across the country.
Tut.by journalist Kaciaryna Barysievič, who investigated the accident, was sentenced to six months in prison for disclosing doctors’ conclusions on Bandarenka’s examination.
Kaciaryna Andrejeva and Darja Čulcova, of Belsat TV, were sentenced to prison for covering protests triggered by the activist’s death.
Video footage and the recordings of phone conversations, published by the Cyberpartisans hacktivist group in August 2022, implicated Natalla Ejsmant, Alaksandar Łukašenka’s press secretary; Dźmitryj Baskaŭ, a member of the Council of the Republic; and Dźmitryj Šakuta, a professional kickboxer, in the assault.
