August 9, Pozirk. Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja has released a statement on the sixth anniversary of the disputed 2020 presidential election, describing that year’s events as a turning point for Belarus.
“For me, August 9 is a promise not to forget that we are one nation,” she said. “Not to forget that moment when, amid tens of thousands of people, there was a sense that we were capable of anything. Some were smiling, others were handing out water, and people were looking out for one another. There were many of us, and we all wanted one thing – to be free and to be treated as human beings.”
Belarusians are being silenced today, but that does not mean that they have given in, the politician said. “We’ve been scattered across different cities and countries, but we haven’t become strangers to one another. They [the authorities in Minsk] are trying to convince us that it was all in vain, but we already know what Belarus can be and what we can be.”
Almost every Belarusian family has experienced its own before and after with arrests, searches or hasty departures while fleeing politically-motivated persecution, she noted.
The country continues to lose professionals as doctors, teachers and IT specialists leave, while shortages of medicines, problems with banks and card payments, difficulties obtaining visas and growing self-censorship persist, Cichanoŭskaja said, describing the current situation in Belarus.
However, August 9 should live on in Belarusians’ ability to reach agreements, express gratitude for help and support others, the opposition leader said.
“We don’t know what events lie ahead or when the opportunity to change the country’s fate will arise,” she added. “But one day, Belarus will once again need our ability to trust, act together and take responsibility. Until that moment comes, we must remain unbroken and united as people who still remember why we took to the streets six years ago.”
August 9, 2020, marked Belarus’ presidential election, in which Alaksandr Łukašenka was declared the winner with about 80 percent of the vote. Former presidential hopeful Cichanoŭskaja disputed the Belarusian central election commission’s official result, accusing Łukašenka of vote rigging.
The election was followed by months of peaceful protests, but the government cracked down on demonstrators, who demanded a new, free and transparent poll and freedom for opposition leaders. Thousands were jailed, beaten and tortured and several demonstrators were killed by security forces.
