Protest Action in the Center of Minsk

Mikalai Statkevich invites people to the main State Store at 6 pm today.

The protest coincides with the 19th anniversary of the "referendum", conducted by Aliaksandr Lukashenka on November 24, 1996.

He wrote it on his Facebook page, charter97.org informs. The politician underlined that during illegal "referendum" of 1996 Lukashenka "assumed dictatorial powers to interpret it as a constitutional coup."

"Before the" referendum" the Interior Minister Yury Zakharanka, who claimed that served the law was deprived of his post to weaken the resistance to the coup d'état. During the "referendum" Chairman of the Central Election Commission Viktar Hanchar was illegally deprived of his position. (In 1999 they were both kidnapped and murdered by the dictator's order," the politician said.

"Another anniversary of the establishment of dictatorship in our country is the time when we remind those who sacrificed their lives for freedom of Belarus. We do not know where Viktar Hanchar and Yury Zakharanka are buried. But we will come to places where they used to work - MVD and CEC buildings - to light candles. The place for gathering is the main State Store, 6 pm, November 24. Everyone can join us," Statkevich wrote.

The second "referendum" of independend Belarus took place on November 24, 1996. Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Sannikov, Prime Minister Mikhail Chyhir, Minister of Labour Aliaksandr Sasnou, as well as seven judges and Chairman of the Constitutional Court Valery Tsikhinya resigned as a mark of protest.

Western countries and international organizations, including the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the European Union did not formally recognized the results of the "vote" and declared it to be unlawful because of serious procedural violations.