English

“Belarus gained independence thanks to October Revolution”

Belarus would not have become an independent state had it not been for the 1917 October Revolution, Syarhey Kalyakin, leader of the “Spravedlivy Mir” (Just World) Belarusian Party of the Left, told reporters during a flower-laying ceremony held by party members in central Minsk on November 7, the 94th anniversary of the event.

“Today we mark the great day that founded our Belarusian state,” the opposition politician said, adding that if the revolution had not happened, “we would have lived in Russia.”

Mr. Kalyakin described the October Revolution as an “attempt by people to make their life better.” “We must treat their acts with respect, although they failed to fulfill some of their plans,” he said.

He did not agree with members of the pro-government Communist Party of Belarus, who said at the same venue earlier in the day that the principles of equality and freedom that were proclaimed by the revolution are observed in Belarus today. “Society is divided today. Only when the authorities and the people stand united, we will be able to move forward. I am confident that most Belarusians would like to change their lives. They have not yet overcome their fear though,” Mr. Kalyakin said.

Some 40 members of the party took part in the flower-laying ceremony at the monument to Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin in Independence Square. After the event, a police officer told Mr. Kalyakin to visit the Maskowski district police department on November 8. The politician suggested that he may be charged with staging an unsanctioned mass event. He stressed that the ceremony was neither a rally nor a march but said that he would present himself at the police department.

Police officers did not approach representatives of pro-government leftist groups that held similar ceremonies near the monument on the same day.