PRESS RELEASE: Students, citizens protest ‘last dictatorship in Europe’ :: Charter'97 :: News

Washington, DC. On Friday, December 16, 2005 Students for Global Democracy (SGD) will protest against the dictatorship in Belarus. Democracy leaders in Belarus have designated the sixteenth of every month as a "Day of Belarusian Solidarity," with protests held in cities across Belarus, throughout Europe and around the globe. Washington area students and democracy supporters will join citizens worldwide in protesting on behalf of Belarusian >political prisoners, abducted opposition leaders, and missing journalists. “It is important for the people of Belarus to know that students in the U.S. are helping them in their fight for democracy,” said SGD President Charlie Szrom.

Often referred to as "the last dictatorship in Europe," Aleksandr Lukashenka`s government in Belarus continually cracks down on independent media, activists, students, and others who try to exercise their basic rights of free speech and assembly. “After nearly a decade of falsifying elections and entrenching his power, Lukashenka is afraid that the Belarusian people will rise up like those in Ukraine, Georgia, Serbia and elsewhere and oust him,” said Jonathan Crock, SGD Belarus Task Force Leader.

Protest Location: In front of the Belarusian Embassy
1619 New Hampshire Ave. NW, (Near 18th & New Hampshire), Washington, DC 20009
Metro: Dupont Circle (Red Line).

STUDENTS FOR GLOBAL DEMOCRACY INTERNATIONAL

SGD is a non-governmental non-partisan organization based in the United States. It currently has seventeen chapters spanning the world from the Netherlands to Turkey to Pakistan and is still growing. Organized around the belief that every person has the right to help choose their government, SGD uses solidarity demonstrations, fundraising campaigns, and internet outreach to further the democratic aims of local, nonviolent activists who seek support in their struggles. Previous work involved working with youth groups in Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine.