Representatives of the Belarusian diaspora of Bialystok remembered political prisoners who celebrate their birthday in October. The action took place on the day when political prisoner Vitold Ashurak, who died in the dungeons of the Shklou colony in May 2021, could have celebrated his 54th birthday.
The participants of the solidarity action with Vitold and other political prisoners say:
“We have been doing birthday greetings for political prisoners for more than a year. This is such a purposeful action – a reminder to all Belarusians who are in Belarus and those who are abroad, so that they do not forget our most honest people who are in Belarusian prisons”
“I learned it all on my skin. My conscience tells me that those people who are behind bars are innocent. We have to think about them, those who are free, because then it unites us as a nation, as Belarus”
“He could have been 54 years old today so that he would not have been killed. I knew him very well, they were even convicted in the same courtroom, only he was a day earlier and I was a day later. That’s how the regime took away a real worthy Belarusian from us”
“Vitold Ashurak, we can say that he was brutally murdered, tortured in the dungeons of the Gestapo, let’s call it that. He could have turned 54, but he is no longer with us. Sleep well, our hero, we will fight as best we can!”
After 2020, tens of thousands of Belarusians went through prisons in Belarus for political reasons. Thousands of people remain there. About ten prisoners died in custody for various reasons.
