Belarus, Aleksievic Nobel Prize-winning appeal to end "mass repression"

2020-11-18T20:33:38.516Z

In addition to 160 Belarusian writers, including Nobel laureate Svetlana Aleksievic, have signed an appeal to the Belarusian authorities, calling for an end to the "mass repression" against participants in protest demonstrations. The Union of Belarusian Writers has published an open letter stating that in the last 100 days there has been a continuous escalation of violence in the country. According to the petitioners, such repressions have not been seen in Europe in the last 40 years: 30,000 people have been arrested and more than 4,000 people have been victims of violence. Fundamental human rights would be trampled in the country, which is leading to financial meltdown, international isolation and the "fall of Belarus to the bottom of the ranking of civilizations".