Prague, 16 November – At the opening of the international conference „Russian Hybrid War against the democratic world. A challenge for the European Remembrance Policy“ which is held on 16 – 18 November at the Liechtenstein Palace in Prague, the National leader of Belarus Ms Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Mr Miloš Vystrčil, the Chairman of the Czech Senate and the president of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience Mr Marek Mutor presented the Platform’s 2021 prize, which was awarded to the Russian organisation Memorial International. The award was received by Boris Belenkin, a member of the Memorial board.
“Already a year ago, members of the Czech Parliament expressed their strong dismay with the dissolution of the international human rights and educational NGO Memorial. I am pleased that the Prize of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience for the year 2021 is being awarded to this association and that it will be presented to Russian historian Boris Belenkin. It is essential and right to support efforts to seek the truth in history. I consider it symbolical that this is happening in the Czech Republic at the time of the anniversary of the Velvet revolution which brought us freedom and democracy”, said Miloš Vystrčil, President of the Senate.
The Platform member institutions and organisations decided and voted earlier to award the 2021 Prize of the Platform to Memorial. “Last year during the Platform’s annual conference we learned about plans to shut down the Memorial. We made a strong protest against it, as we knew the achievements and work done by Memorial’s people. The Memorial was soon nominated to the Platform’s Award. The voting started before the full scale Russian invasion was launched. It ended after that, when it was more than obvious that silencing Memorial was one of the preparatory steps not only to the war, but also to crimes against humanity,” said Mr Paweł Ukielski, Deputy Director of the Warsaw Rising Museum, in his laudatio.
Ms Tsikhanouskaya, who is the 2020 Platform Prize laureate warned that the Belarusian regime and the Belarusian people should not be confused. Most Belarusians, she said, do not agree with Russia’s war against Ukraine, but on the contrary, many of them have helped the Ukrainians despite the threat of imprisonment. According to the politician, the fate of Ukraine and Belarus cannot be separated. “There cannot be a free Belarus without a free Ukraine,” she said.
Belenkin recalled the organization’s long-standing work and its current ban. “Despite all the obstacles, our work continues,” he said. He said that members of the society are now being persecuted and the organisation is facing fines and lawsuits. “But the results of our work will never cease to exist,” Belenkin added.
The organisation became famous for exposing the crimes of communism and Stalinism in the former Soviet Union and gradually became the largest human rights group in Russia. Memorial also received the Nobel Peace Prize this year.
The prize is awarded annually to a person(s) or institution who are today fighting against totalitarianism (authoritarianism), for the ideals of democracy, fundamental human rights and freedoms and the rule of law. The Platform Prize should support its laureates in their struggle, help protect them from persecution and help promote international publicity for their cause.
Media coverage