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Opposition activists commemorate Stalin terror victims

Some 50 people, mostly members of the opposition Conservative Christian Party (CCP), staged a march to a Stalin-era massacre site in Minsk on November 9 to honor the memory of the victims of the Stalinist terror, BelaPAN said.

The sanctioned march ran from the Culture Palace of the Worsted Mill along Mayakowskaha Street to a memorial cross in Loshytsa Park that commemorates the people executed there in 1937. Participants carried historically national white-red-white flags, flowers, CCP banners, and signs saying, “Let’s Defend Belarus from Russian Imperialism!” and “Belarusian Solidarity is Our Response to Russian Occupation.”

The march ended with a commemorative ceremony in Loshytsa Park. CCP Executive Secretary Valery Buyval read out an appeal by Zyanon Paznyak, the party’s émigré leader.

“It is necessary to preserve the memory of the genocide of the Belarusian people in 1937,” Mr. Paznyak said in his appeal.

“The memory of the genocide unites the present generation and reminds us of the danger of the occupation and totalitarian regime. Dzyady [Remembrance of Ancestors Day] has turned into the main holiday of the Belarusian people. The boycott of the recent elections by Belarusians proved that time is changing and better days are ahead of us. We should work quietly and consistently for these days to come.”

Mr. Buyval added that one should not believe Russia, which he said tries to create conditions for annexing Belarus through the so-called Union State.

The crowd observed a minute of silence and sang “Mahutny Bozha” (Oh, Lord Almighty), a Belarusian-language anthem.

Plainclothesmen watched the event from a distance but did not intervene. No one was arrested.

Two hours earlier, a commemorative ceremony was held in Loshytsa Park by six activists of the Belarusian Popular Front, including Deputy Chairman Viktar Ivashkevich.