Discussion with Alexander Cherkasov and Volha Harbunova
November 02, 2023
The event dedicated to political prisoners in Russia and Belarus was held as part of Freedom Week, which traditionally takes place before the Czech Day of Struggle for Freedom and Democracy.
Former Belarusian political prisoner Volha Harbunova and Russian human rights activist Alexander Cherkasov took part in the discussion which was moderated by journalist Tereza Engelová (Hlídací pes).
The event took place on November 12, 2023 at the Dejvice Theatre (Dejvické divadlo, Zelená 15a, Praha 6). A live broadcast from the discussion is available here.
In contemporary Russia and Belarus, people are persecuted not only for their anti-war stance and political views, but also on national and religious grounds. There are currently more than 1,500 political prisoners in Belarusian prisons and more than 600 in Russian prisons. Even more people are persecuted without deprivation of liberty. What are the conditions of detention of political prisoners? Can citizens of these countries somehow still express their civil position? And how can we support the current political prisoners?
Volha Harbunova, a former political prisoner and representative of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus on social issues, and Alexander Cherkasov, a Russian human rights activist and member of the Council of the Memorial Human Rights Center, spoke about these issues.
More information can be found on the event's Facebook page.