The chairperson of Salidarnast on the anniversary of the detention of trade union leaders in Belarus

Address by the leader of the Salidarnast association on the occasion of the anniversary of the beginning of mass and unprecedented repressions against the leaders and activists of the Belarusian independent trade unions and the entire democratic trade union movement of the country as a whole, which the Belarusian regime began a year ago - on April 19, 2022. On this day we would like to recall our brothers and sisters who were sentenced to different prison terms - from 1 to 9 years. More than 30 trade unionists were included by human rights activists into a long list of political prisoners in Belarus, which contains the names of 1,460 people. Over the past two years the regime has liquidated more than 700 public organizations and initiatives. Convicted union activists are put on lists of extremists and terrorists. Every day we hear about new arrests, torture, searches and fines in Belarus, where terror has become an integral part of life and mentally returned us to the terrible past of Stalinist repress