“Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear friends,
Thank you for the possibility to speak before you today!
It is precisely one year ago, on May 7th, 2020, that my husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski announced his decision to run for president of Belarus. He was not affiliated with any political party or structure, he only had his independent blog on YouTube. The videos where Siarhei interviewed Belarusians about their everyday problems happened to have a tremendous mobilizing effect. Thousands of citizens across the country saw that they are not alone and joined the movement to support Siarhei and later me. During last year, our movement has completely changed Belarus and Belarusians, and it is not going to stop until the decisive victory of democracy.
This story proves the strength of the media. They are more than just the source of information, the media shape and change the society itself. At some point, Belarusians started to prefer the diverse and professional independent media to the centralized state propaganda. When the regime finally understood it, the only thing it could do was to get revenge on the independent journalists. Belarus has become the most dangerous country in Europe for journalists, where they can be fined, arrested, beaten, or even shot for doing their job. Repressive laws are introduced to legalize this professional ban.
But this has only led to the greater demand for independent information among Belarusians, and the persecuted journalists are already treated as heroes. I especially mean such political prisoners as Ihar Losik, Mikola Dziadok, Katsiaryna Andreyeva, Daria Chultsova, Katsiaryna Barysievich, and others, who defy the regime even being in jail. The journalists of such media as Tut.by, Nasha Niva, Belsat, Radio Svaboda, and others continue working despite the conditions and without compromising quality. Meanwhile, the grassroots media infrastructure continues to develop, especially the network of Telegram channels, and there is even the return of samizdat with dozens of self-made newspapers across the country.
The Belarusian society supports the independent media, but they also need support from the international community. I invite us all to discuss what can be done for that, putting this issue in the broader context of the defense of human rights and keeping in mind the perspective of the future development of Belarus. I hope that today we can have a fruitful exchange on these matters.
Thank you for your attention!”.
