In Memoriam Yana Polyakova
The night before yesterday we lost one of most important Belarusian human rights defenders, Yana Polyakova. The signatories offer their deepest condolences to all Yana Polyakova’s close ones and remind the public in Estonia and in Europe that in Belarus human rights are still violated and those that have the courage to stand up to the current dictatorship are often silenced.
When a young person, still only halfway on one’s journey, is taken, you are left to wonder what twists and turns become fatal in one’s life. When someone makes the decision to leave by oneself, you cannot help but imagine why and what those left behind could have done to prevent it. Yana through her work supported the very people in need of help and advice against the injustice of those in power in Belarus. Lennart Meri, former President of Estonia, has noted that principles are the only true weapons in democracy and to those weapons Yana was true till the end, by continuing to counsel those in need when she herself would have needed a helping hand. Close relations with Estonian civil society will bind Yana with Estonia forever.
A few days before the tragic finale in Yana Polyakova’s life, saw the completion of her trial in Saligorski regional court under the city judge Aliaksandr Buravtsov sentencing the young woman to two and a half years in a special prison camp. A conviction, that someone who had dedicated her life to standing up for liberties and freedoms could not see herself fulfill. This unfair verdict came as a direct result of Yana’s courageous attempts to bring to light the cruel violence of the Belarusian Police Militia against the detainees.
Yana Polyakova accused the captain of the Police Militia Victor Pugachov and his colleagues of violence against her during her detainment last year. The prosecution turned down all Yana’s appeals for having an expert committee research into what had happened to her. And as if those in power had not done enough to silence the injustice and integrity, last week Belarusian propaganda newspaper “Sovetskaya Belorussia” published an anonymous article degrading and demeaning the longtime efforts and bravery of this remarkable person.
Lennart Meri, already quoted above and known as one of the greatest Europeans of our time, has said that Europe is not a cardinal point, but rather a set of values. It is probably just to ask ourselves whether we as Europeans have given all that is possible of us in support of those Belarusians who wish to see their country as free and democratic. In our continued efforts to integrate Belarus to the EU have we demanded that the current administration pay more attention to human rights issues? If in our answers to these questions we hesitate even for a brief moment, we should feel ashamed. Let us exercise this shame to use our precious liberties to promote the liberties of others not only in Yana Polyakova’s homeland Belarus but also in many other countries where freedom continues to exist only in the dreams of some.
Open Estonia Foundation
Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations
Youth Association Open Republic
NGO New Way for Belarus
Support Group of Free Belarus