ISHR at the Letucień Festival in Kraków: €230 raised for Aliaksandra Pulinovich

On 1 August, the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) took part in the Belarusian Letucień Festival in Kraków. The main purpose of our participation was to raise awareness of the case of the young Belarusian political prisoner Aliaksandra Pulinovich and to support continued advocacy for her release.

Through donations and the sale of solidarity items, we raised approximately €230 for our advocacy and public-awareness work concerning Aliaksandra and other political prisoners in Belarus.

At our stand, we displayed seven illustrated portraits of Belarusian political prisoners. Six of them depicted imprisoned artists and musicians. The portraits highlighted how repression in Belarus affects not only political activists, but also people working in culture and the arts.

Artem Kryvulia at the ISHR information stand during the Letucień Festival in Kraków. The stand featured portraits of Belarusian political prisoners as well as information and solidarity materials.

The case of musician Aleh Khamenka attracted particularly strong attention. Many festival visitors recognised him and welcomed the fact that ISHR is drawing attention to his imprisonment. We will therefore explore the possibility of securing a political sponsorship for his case.

During a one-hour panel discussion, ISHR presented its work on Belarus, its advocacy for political prisoners and its political sponsorship programme. The presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session with participants, who discussed practical ways of supporting political prisoners and keeping their cases visible.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya also stopped briefly at our stand. As ISHR had already been in contact with her and her team, the meeting provided another opportunity to demonstrate that we continue to work consistently on Belarus. We presented our current campaign for Aliaksandra Pulinovich and took a photograph together with her portrait.

From left to right: Kostiantyn Zhydchenko, ISHR volunteer; Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, President-elect of Belarus; and Artem Kryvulia, staff member of ISHR’s Eastern Europe Department.

The festival also allowed us to strengthen contacts with the Belarusian community in Poland and with civil-society organisations. Several people expressed interest in volunteering with ISHR, and we will follow up with them about possible involvement in a Belarus working group.

The Letucień Festival brought together members of the Belarusian community in exile, artists and civil-society representatives. For ISHR, it provided a valuable opportunity to combine direct advocacy, fundraising, public discussion and networking in support of Belarusian political prisoners.

Artem Kryvulia, staff member of ISHR’s Eastern Europe Department, presents ISHR’s work on Belarus and its advocacy for political prisoners during a panel discussion.