Mikalai Statkevich: Belarusians Do Not Need Their Own 1968, They Need 1989 At Once

The former political prisoner visited the Czech Republic on the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

Mikalai Statkevich has written about that on his Facebook page.

The former political prisoner visited the Czech Republic on the invitation of the local human rights organisation People In Need, which had done a lot for Belarusian political prisoners.

“On November 17 on the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, I addressed a memorial concert dedicated to this date in the town of Plzen, which had been selected as the cultural capital of Europe, –this year Mikalai Statkevich said. – Next day we visited Radio Liberty in Prague, where we had an opportunity to express our personal thanks to journalists of its Belarusian service for their invaluable work in support of political prisoners. There was also an opportunity to give interview to other services of the radio station.”

On November 19 a meeting of the Belarusian politician with the speaker of the Czech parliament Jan Hamáček. Besides, Mikalai Statkevich delivered a speech in Charles University. There were many our countrymen at the meeting, he noted.

“People often compare our situation with the situation in the Czechoslovakia under the puppet Communist regime, – the politician said. – The attempt of Czechs to obtain freedom in 1968 ended in the Soviet occupation. When the Soviet regime became weaker, the Velvet Revolution won. Belarusians need not to have their 1968, as it could result in a loss of even a formal independence for us. We need 1989 at once.”