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Hundred gather in Polish city of Poznan to express solidarity with detained opposition activists in Belarus

Some 100 people gathered at the center of Poznan, Poland, late on January 22 to express solidarity with detained Belarusian opposition activists.

The crowd lit white and red candles, putting them near a monument to renowned Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz who lived in what is now Belarus.

Activist Vital Voranaw read out the names of all of the detained opponents of the Belarusian government. One of the detainees is Syarhey Martsalew, the campaign chief of former presidential candidate Mikalay Statkevich who studied at a university in Poznan for several years.

Speaking at the event, opposition youth leader Franak Vyachorka thanked the Polish people for its active and continuous support of Belarus’ pro-democratic activists.

At the end of the event a well-known poem by Uladzimir Nyaklyayew, a former presidential candidate currently held in the KGB jail in Minsk, translated into Polish by a member of the Belarusian Center in Poznan was read out.

The event had been organized by the Belarusian Cultural and Educational Center and the Young Democrats movement. //BelaPAN