CRF joins Solidarity Fund for Belarus Free Theatre

The December 19th elections in Belarus have come and gone. Alexander Lukashenko has, once again, declared himself the winner with nearly 80 percent of the votes. International observers have condemned the outcome. In less than 24 hours after the election, Lukashenko’s forces rounded up hundreds of unarmed protestors, including several of the opposition candidates. Many family members of the candidates have told international reporters that they still do not know where their loved ones are.  In the last few days, the total arrests have surpassed one thousand. One of those rounded up was Natalia Koliada of the Belarus Free Theatre. Natalia has been an outspoken critic of Lukashenko’s regime; she was detained overnight on the 19th and released the next day, forced into hiding. Some details of her detention have been made known, including the fact that she was given no water or food and verbally threatened with death. You can read more about Natalia’s detention, and the detentions in general, here. freeDimensional and the Creative Resistance Fund are following the lead of Trans Europe Halle  to build a solidarity fund for the Belarus Free Theatre.  Joining in the effort are Mischief + Mayhem Books and IETM. More information, including how to contribute, can be found here. Blog text reprinted from DW Gibson, co-founder of Mischief + Mayhem Books.

Tags:

Comments are closed.