International Day of Solidarity with Belarus: EU reiterates its demand for the release of all political prisoners

On 12 November, the European Union marked the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus, in memory of Raman Bandarenka who died during a mass protest in Belarus three years ago.

Bandarenka, 31 years old at the time, was brutally beaten by the regime’s security forces, which led to his tragic death on 12 November 2020. His passing was never investigated and no charges were brought against those responsible for it. We are reminded of this by EU High Representative Josep Borrell, in a statement on the occasion of this date:

“Since the 2020 falsified presidential elections, the human rights situation in Belarus continues to drastically deteriorate. The regime has made over 40 000 politically motivated arrests, pursued at least 12 000 politically motivated criminal cases and holds almost 1 500 political prisoners.” 

Borrell also paid tribute to all political prisoners, including those who lost their lives as a result of ill-treatment, brutality and denial of medical care by the regime, including Vitold Ashurak, Dzmitry Dudoits, Aliaksandr Vikhor, Mikalai Klimovicz, Dzmitry Sarokin and Ales Pushkin. 

The EU reiterated its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Belarus.

Find out more

Press release