Reward for the People

See you next year in free Belarus.

Just yesterday, we sat in the editorial office and discussed the past year. Of course, we are all very tired; we run ourselves ragged, without days off and vacations, living all the events and upheavals together with the country. And suddenly, during this conversation, a colleague said: "And yet, it was the happiest year of my life."

God, I thought, this is true. It was the happiest year of our life. Full of emotion, hope, loss, pain, struggle, but not of disappointment. We all suddenly realized that we are the people. Decent people. Until now, we somehow lived on our own, were responsible only for ourselves and our actions, and then suddenly realized that we were not alone, there are a lot of us, and we are all on the way. On the road to freedom.

We finally began to be proud of our belonging to the people. Together we stood up to defend our honor and dignity. We began to understand and feel each other. We have become much more confident and stronger.

Each of us has our own name. But now, it's not just one. Today we are all Raman Bandarenka. We are all Aliaksandr Taraikouski. We are all Mikalai Statkevich. We are all Viktar Babaryka. We are all Pavel Seviarynets. We are all Yauhen Afnahel. We are all Ihar Alinevich. We are all Ivan Krasouski. We are all Siarhei Tsikhanouski. And thousands, thousands of heroes who died, are in prisons, and continue to fight for freedom. They are part of us, and we are part of them. Together we are a huge force capable of anything.

Therefore, this year it has never been easier to select the winners of the Viktor Ivashkevich Annual National Human Rights Award. The entire Belarusian people, who rose up for freedom, are worthy of the award. Every person, who has risen against evil and tyranny. Everyone, who brings our victory closer by their actions.

And I have no doubt that we will win. See you next year in free Belarus.

Natallia Radzina, chief editor of Charter97.org website

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