Current situation in Belarus to be discussed at human rights documentary film festival in Bruxelles

FIDH, Viasna and People in Need invite you to the screening of ONE WORLD 2012 documentary “BELORUSSIAN DREAM” by Ekaterina Kibalchich with the presence of Taciana Reviaka from VIASNA and Alexandra KOULAEVA from FIDH to be held in Bruxelles at Rue Caroly 15, 1050 on 21 May as part of the sixth annual One World human rights documentary film festival.

According to this film’s anonymous guide, autumn 2010 was the most beautiful period in Belarus in recent years. His words are illustrated with footage of the election rallies of independent presidential candidates. The speaker and many others hoped that the country’s first free elections in 16 years would bring the authoritarian rule of Alexander Lukashenko to an end. Those hopes, boosted by pre-election polls, are dashed when the results are announced. Lukashenko receives 80 percent of the votes, while one opposition candidate is beaten and kidnapped. Subsequent protests against the reportedly rigged elections lead to the arrest of opposition politicians, their wives, election campaign colleagues and even ordinary demonstrators. The film provides a unique, close-up perspective on the totalitarian practices of Belarus’s state agencies, which are not afraid to make use of media propaganda, the secret police, threats, and show trials. It is, above all, a tribute to those Belarusians for whom freedom remains a value worth fighting for.

Guests will include Taciana Reviaka from the Belarusian NGO Viasna, Lida Vackova, the coordinator of Belarussian projects of People in Need, and Alexandra Koulaeva, head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, International Federation for Human Rights – FIDH.

The screening will be followed by a discussion on the current situation in Belarus.

The discussion will be held in English and Russian;  English translation will be provided.