The global community constantly needs to be reminded of the grave situation in Belarus. But above all, Lukasjenko needs to be reminded that the world is keeping their eyes on his repressive regime. I just got back from a short visit to Prague where I attended an exhibition about the transition to dictatorship and the current opposition movement in Belarus. The name of the exhibition was “You vote I decide”. It was quite well-attended and, I made a new friend from Belarus who was very moved by the film they showed about the arrests of the opposition activists at the October Square after the presidential elections in March 2006. My new friend was one of these activists.

The plan for this exhibition is to tour around Europe. Since it is relatively easy for the members of Belarus’ opposition to travel to Vilnius, I suggested they should hold the first exhibition there. I promised the organizers that I would check with IFLRY member organizations that might be interested in helping them set up this exhibition in their respective countries. The organizers already have funding from the Council of Europe and some other sources but, could really use our help with marketing, finding a good spot for the exhibition and helping to assemble the exhibition.

The photo exhibition consists of visual explanations on how the transition to dictatorship came about. Pictures and film portraying both the regime and the opposition paint a vivid picture of what is often referred to as the last dictatorship in Europe.

I think it would be great if IFLRY and LYMEC together with our member organizations could help the organizers of this exhibition highlight the serious situation in Belarus.

While in Prague, I also met with a representative from the People In Need Foundation which, works with democratization and host projects in Belarus. We had a very interesting discussion comparing how to work in totalitarian states and, I hope that we can work together more in the future.

I truly hope that we can bring the exhibition about Belarus on a tour through Europe or even around the world. I urge everyone that is interested in helping out to email me at daniel@iflry.org.

Liberally yours,

Daniel Wennick