Journalists are not criminals: Solidarity marathon for imprisoned reporters reaches Italy’s major cities

Human rights activist Leanid Sudalen­ka and the Com­mu­ni­ty of Belaru­sians in Italy took part in the BAJ marathon of sol­i­dar­i­ty with impris­oned Belaru­sian jour­nal­ists.

Leanid Sudalen­ka hold­ing por­traits of polit­i­cal pris­on­ers Yauhen Merkis and Larysa Shchyrako­va in Rome

At the invi­ta­tion of Amnesty Inter­na­tion­al Italy, Leanid Sudalen­ka under­took a week-long human rights tour of the Mediter­ranean coun­try. Dur­ing the trip, the human rights defend­er vis­it­ed Milan, Pad­ua, Genoa, Rome, Naples, Cata­nia, and Paler­mo. The vis­it con­tin­ued con­tacts between Belaru­sian and Ital­ian human rights defend­ers, which began in 2015.

This time, Leanid Sudalen­ka spoke in the most promi­nent Ital­ian cities about the human rights sit­u­a­tion in Belarus and polit­i­cal repres­sion, includ­ing against the media com­mu­ni­ty.

.Leanid Sudalen­ka in the Vat­i­can. Cour­tesy pho­to

On Octo­ber 21, Leanid Sudalen­ka par­tic­i­pat­ed in a pub­lic debate at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Pad­ua, where he spoke about impris­oned Nobel lau­re­ate Ales Biali­ats­ki.

The human rights activist recalled that less than 100 years ago, the first Euro­pean Nobel Peace Prize lau­re­ate, Carl von Ossi­et­zky, was tor­tured to death in a prison in Nazi Ger­many. Today, his­to­ry repeats itself in anoth­er Euro­pean coun­try, Belarus, where the Nobel lau­re­ate is impris­oned for the fourth year.

On Octo­ber 22, a pub­lic dis­cus­sion on Belaru­sian polit­i­cal pris­on­ers was held in Rome.

Near the office of the Com­mu­ni­ty of Belaru­sians in Italy. Cour­tesy pho­to

“First, I went straight to the Colos­se­um to take self­ies with the por­traits of my friends at the famous his­tor­i­cal site, and then I vis­it­ed the Pope and asked him to pay atten­tion to what hap­pens in Belarus,” said Leanid Sudalen­ka.

In the office of Amnesty Inter­na­tion­al Italy. Cour­tesy pho­to

On Octo­ber 24, Leanid Sudalen­ka arrived in Cata­nia.

Before his pub­lic speech at the Fac­ul­ty of Polit­i­cal Sci­ence of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cata­nia, he vis­it­ed the Cathe­dral of St. Agatha, where he asked Catholics to pray for the release of Belaru­sian polit­i­cal pris­on­ers. Cour­tesy pho­to

A week ear­li­er, Mas­si­m­il­iano Coc­cia, a jour­nal­ist with the Ital­ian news­pa­per linkiesta.it, became a sym­bol­ic patron of Valeryia Kast­si­uho­va, founder and edi­tor of the web­site of the expert com­mu­ni­ty Nashe Mne­nie, edi­tor and author of Belorussky Ezhe­god­nik, and head of the expert mon­i­tor­ing group Belarus in Focus.

BAJ calls on jour­nal­ists around the world to sup­port the sol­i­dar­i­ty action! You can print por­traits of impris­oned Belaru­sian media work­ers, take pic­tures with them in out­stand­ing places in your city (out­side Belarus), and post them on social media using the hash­tags #СвабодуЖурналістам and #BecauseThe­Jour­nal­ist. Don’t for­get to send them to office@baj.media or intercomm@baj.media.