Belarusians of Bialystok came out with banners and white-red-white flags to the Podlaskie Voivodeship Administration to express solidarity with political prisoners and ask the Polish authorities to suspend freight railway communication with Belarus. In their opinion, such a measure should force the Lukashenka regime to release all Belarusian political prisoners. The corresponding petition from the organizers of the action was accepted by the governor of Podlasie Jacek Brzozowski.
Bialystok has become another city where representatives of the Belarusian diaspora joined the “Ultimatum to Lukashenka”. This time, the rally was held not at the usual place for most Belarusian actions in Bialystok – near the Consulate General of Belarus, but where the protest was more noticeable – near the Voivodeship Administration, as the representative office of the Polish government in the region.
Activist of the Belarusian diaspora of Bialystok Jan Abadouski read out the text of the request to the governor and through him to the Polish government to take effective steps to release political prisoners. In particular, to stop freight rail transit if the Belarusian dictator does not start releasing political prisoners.
“Diplomatic tools for the release of political prisoners have already been exhausted and are not yielding any results. Dictators need to be spoken to in their language – the language of ultimatums. We appeal to the countries of the European Union, first of all to the Government of the Republic of Poland, to take urgent steps to end the repressions and release all political prisoners in Belarus. To do this, we ask you to issue an ultimatum to the Lukashenka regime, demanding from it the immediate release of all political prisoners, all prisoners of conscience and an end to repression in Belarus. If the Lukashenka regime refuses to comply with the ultimatum, we propose to temporarily stop the movement of freight trains from Belarus through the territory of the Republic of Poland, including transit traffic from Russia and China to the countries of the European Union, until the requirement is fulfilled.“
The governor of Podlasie Jacek Brzozowski, came down from his office into the hall of the building. There Jan Abadouski handed him the text of the request for the ultimatum. The governor fully shared the idea of the need to support political prisoners both in Belarus and in Russia, and this support should be provided by the entire democratic world.
“We know that there are a lot of political prisoners both on the territory of the Russian Federation and on the territory of Belarus, that is, non-democratic states, and full support from the democratic world is expected. Of course, I accept this petition and will transmit it to the relevant authorities in Poland, first of all to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I know very well how important this is from his point of view and in the context of actions carried out in the direction of the Russian Federation, as well as Belarus, which is neither a free nor a democratic state. What I can do, I will do and pass it on to the relevant public authorities. Wherever I have the opportunity, I will support you as a diaspora. You can count on my full support”