Palina Sharenda-Panasyuk Spoke At The European Parliament

The activist urged for alternative strategies to pressure the Lukashenka regime.

Women fighting for freedom were invited to the opening of the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Former political prisoner, activist of the European Belarus Civil Campaign Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, former presidential candidate of Belarus Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaia, volunteer from Ukraine Tata Kepler, as well as Crimean Tatar Leniye Umerova, released from Russian captivity, addressed the MEPs.

In her speech, Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk highlighted the Belarusian people's aspiration to join the European Union, the torture endured by prisoners under the Lukashenka regime, and urged MEPs to apply maximum pressure on the dictator. The Charter97.org website cites the speech of the activist from the European Belarus Civil Campaign:

— Good afternoon, esteemed members of the European Parliament!

My name is Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, and I represent here the European Belarus Civil Campaign, which stands for the integration of free Belarus into Europe. This flag is the symbol of our campaign. For these flags, my friends and I are beaten, thrown into prison, and subjected to terrible torture.

Our campaign was also preparing for the 2020 revolution. For this, I, along with other members of the European Belarus Civil Campaign, was arrested in January 2021.

For four years, I was held as a political hostage of the Lukashenka regime. I went through the hell of the dictator's prisons, which have preserved the methods of physical and psychological extermination from Stalin's Gulag unchanged. Four years of complete isolation from the world, from children and relatives. Four years of solitary confinement, transfer cars, 270 days of so-called punishment cells, which are places of isolation and torture.

But I endured and regained my freedom. I regained my freedom in part thanks to your principled stance, dear Members of the European Parliament. I am deeply grateful to the President, Ms Roberta Metsola, for all the measures taken to secure my release. I also want to thank all those present who fought for my release.

But thousands of other political prisoners are still held hostage by the terrorist regime in Belarus. Among them are my colleagues in the European Belarus – Yauhen Afnahel, Maksim Viniarski, Andrei Voinich, Pavel Yukhnevich. There has been no information about many political prisoners for more than two years, including one of the leaders of the Belarusian nation, Mikalai Statkevich. No one knows if he is still alive. The situation is also catastrophic for female political prisoners: Viktoryia Kulsha, Alena Hnauk, and Volha Mayorova. I have great anxiety for their lives.

Dear friends! For 30 years, right in the heart of Europe, at the very edge of the European Union, concentration camps have existed where people are tortured and killed simply for their desire for freedom. It is unacceptable for the civilized world to tolerate the fact that Belarus remains under the rule of a mentally ill terrorist.

I was released only because of the pressure on this regime. Do not believe the false statements of the regime and its allies that political prisoners are released allegedly because of humanism. No!

People are subjected to torture to force them into requesting pardons from Lukashenko, giving "apology interviews," and signing cooperation agreements with the KGB. People are blackmailed, threatened with pressure on relatives, children and property are taken away from them.

Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians were forced to flee the country under the threat of new repressions.

I urge for stronger, tangible pressure on the Lukashenka regime, not just through the implementation of new sanctions but also by closely monitoring their enforcement. A comprehensive blockade and trade embargo should be enforced against the regime under Article 33 of the International Labor Organization's Charter. There should be no transit of goods to Europe from China and other countries of the East through the concentration camp called Belarus. The regime must become a complete pariah politically, economically, and in sports. These are real actions that will force the regime to release political prisoners. And this will be the first step towards the liberation of all the people of Belarus.

Without a free Belarus, the existence of freedom and democracy in Europe will always be under threat, including the threat of Russian aggression. Also, victory in Ukraine will not be possible and complete without a free Belarus.

The opposition of Belarus is fighting against the dictatorship, for a free, independent and democratic Belarus. We fight for the values on which the European Union is founded. In this fight, we need your help in defending and upholding your values. You can help us free our friends and our leaders who are in prison today. You can help Europe get rid of the criminals who unleashed a bloody war against Ukraine — Lukashenka and Putin.

For our and your freedom! Long live Belarus!

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