Online petitions website Change.org not accessible in Belarus

The collection of signatures in support of the release of Anton Surapin and Syarhei Basharymau started on this webpage not long ago.

Change.org has been inaccessible in Belarus since August 12. Meanwhile, you can access the website with the help of foreign proxy servers without any problems.

"The fact that we have been blocked in Belarus testifies to the efficiency of online petitions and the importance of our work. Our primary goal is to give the resources and instruments allowing people to speak about injustice and the problems they care about and to help people living in Belarus and in other states get organized in order to solve the problems", - says Zmitser Savelyeu, coordinator of the campaign Change.org in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

It is not the first time Change.org has been used in Belarus. Lyubou Kavalyova used it to collect signatures in support of the abolishment of capital punishment. 67 thousand people signed the petition. Hockey star Pyotr Shchasny and Iryna Bahdanava collected signatures in order to cancel the 2014 World Ice Hockey Championship in Minsk - 17500 signatures. 16 thousand user signed the petition urging to investigate the case of mutilation of nestling cormorants. Over 1200 people have already signed the recent petition containing a demand to release Anton Surapin and Syarhei Basharymau.