19 March 2024, Tuesday, 12:03
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Boris is killed, Nadia is being killed

Belarusian, Ukrainians, Russians and Poles gathered for a protest picket in Warsaw.

The picket twas held in Warsaw's Castle Square to pay tribute to the memory of killed Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and express solidarity with Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko.

Several hundreds people – Poles, Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians – attended the event. They held posters “Say yes to freedom, no to war”, “Boris is killed, Nadia is being killed”, “FreeSavchenko”, “I am not afraid”. Black balloons were released into the sky in memory of Boris Nemtsov.

Chief editor of Gazeta Wyborcza Adam Michnik; “father” of Polish reforms and prominent economist Leszek Balcerowicz; leader of European Belarus civil campaign Andrei Sannikov; head of the Polish department of Amnesty International Boguslaw Stanislawski; chief editor of charter97.org Natallia Radzina; Russian activist Valentina Chubarova; activists of the Belarusian initiative Vyzvalenne (Release) Volha and Yulia Bandarenka; member of the Polish Sejm Szczerba; co-director of the Belarusian House in Poland Uladz Kobets; leader of Razam initiative Viachaslau Siuchyk, activists of Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian organisations attended the picket.

Belarusians, Ukrainians, Russians and Poles gathered for a protest picket in Warsaw

Adam Michnik noted in his speech that “Russian democrat Boris Nemtsov was struggling to the last ditch against the Kremlin's aggressive, brutal and mean imperialism”.

“God damn the Kremlin's dictators and killers of freedom! I believe the day will come sooner or later when we will be able to lay flowers to the monument of Boris Nemtsov in a free democratic Russia,” he said.

Adam Michnik read a poem by Anna Akhmatova:

You are no longer among the living,

You cannot rise from the snow.

Twenty-eight bayonets,

Five bullets.

A bitter new shirt

For my beloved I sewed.

The Russian earth loves, loves

Droplets of blood.

Adam Michnik

Andrei Sannikov, the leader of European Belarus civil campaign, said:

“Two persons – Boris Nemtsov and Nadia Savchenko – gathered us here. These people have done and are doing a lot for their countries – Ukraine and Ukraine – and also for Belarus. Nemtsov, who was killed in Moscow yesterday, was a big friend of Belarus who never doubted our independence and supported our freedom. We pay tribute to the memory of Boris Nemtsov, but we don't say farewell to him. He is still with us. We continue our struggle together for our countries' freedom.

Nadia Savchenko, whom the Russian regime is killing in prison, is also a symbol of fighting for freedom. I called on her to stop her hunger strike. The death of Savchenko will be her enemies' gain, but we, her friends and people of good will, need her alive.

We cannot close our eyes to the horrifying threat from Russia. I don't mean only the Kremlin regime. I am also speaking about the Lukashenka dictatorship in Belarus. We cannot but remember that people are being killed and tortured in Belarus, political prisoners, including former presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich, young activists Mikalai Dziadok and Ihar Alinevich, are being ill-treated. As citizens, we should demand politicians and the government to bring those involved in the killing of Boris Nemtsov to justice, achieve the release of Nadia Savchenko, Mikalai Statkevich and other Belarusian political prisoners.”

Andrei Sannikov

Leszek Balcerowicz said:

“Boris is a real hero of Russia. I know him as a reformist of the 1990s. Such people need our support. We should also decisively support Nadia Savchenko, because Ukraine is struggling not only for its own freedom. Ukraine is also struggling against Putin's aggression. The success of Ukraine, which is repelling the aggression, will be the success of Russia's democratic forces. The success will show that democratic state can develop freely for the benefit of their citizens. Both the West and Poland can do more to support Ukraine's fight.”

Leszek Balcerowicz
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