Anatol Labiedzka: Principled decision is needed on championship in dictatorships

Sporting organizations should be made ban holding events in the countries, where human rights are violated.

This came from the chairman of the United Civic Party (UCP) Anatol Labiedzka as he commented for the charter97.org web-site on the suggestion of an MEP Marek Migalski to once again consider the issue of cancelling the Ice Hockey World Championship in Minsk.

“I think Migalski’s suggestion may become a new wave of the political discussion”, - the politician said.

UCP’s chairman emphasized that “coming from that it is now necessary to make sporting organizations take a principled decision not to hold any events in the countries, where human rights and freedoms are violated”.

“But if we assume that the championship does take place, I think work should be done so that people came there with the portraits of Belarusian political prisoners, with white-red-white flags and did not let the authorities to make the façade look good, behind which the problems would not be visible. It would be very strong, for example, if the game ended and a hockey player took his shirt off and there was a political slogan beneath it. Today, as the mechanism has been launched the intrigue is whether this event will take place like some kind of Lukashenka’s festivity. I think, now all the effort should be put into not letting this happen and making the Belarusian authorities release all the political prisoners before the world championship”, - Anatol Labiedzka concluded.

We would remind that a Member of European Parliament for Poland Marek Migalski claimed there was a necessity to reconsider the issue of cancelling the world championship in Minsk.

“Today, as Ukraine is on the threshold of a war, and Vladimir Putin sends troops to the Crimea, the issue of cancelling the Ice Hockey World Championship In Minsk should be once again considered”, - he emphasized.