Statement of the Belarusan National Platform of the Civil Society in light of Nemtsov’s murder

Belarusan National Platform of the Civil Society Forum

Belarusan National Platform of the Civil Society Forum made an address in connection with the murder of Boris Nemtsov, Russian opposition politician in Moscow.

The statement

of the Belarusian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum

In connection with Boris Nemtsov's murder

06 March 2015

To Civil Society Organizations of the Russian Federation

To Russian human rights defending organizations

To the Steering Committee of the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum

We, representatives of Belarusian civil society organizations united within the framework of the Belarusian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, express our deep condolences to the family, relatives, colleagues, and associates of the Russian politician and public figure Boris Nemtsov who was killed on February, 27th, in Moscow.

We also want to express our deep sympathy for the whole civil society of Russia, which has suffered a serious and irreplaceable loss with the death of the politician who actually headed the protest movement of the recent years in this country and consolidated it during the actions of an exclusively peaceful character.

Boris Nemtsov was known not only in Russia. Many of us, Belarusian public activists and politicians, were acquainted with him personally. He always supported the democratic forces of Belarus and wanted to see our country as a civilized and European one.

We do understand quite well that Boris Nemtsov's murder is of a political character and that its purpose is to intimidate Russian citizens who defend democratic values and human rights and who oppose Russia’s corruption and the Kremlin’s bloody war in Ukraine.

We do know what such political terror is because our country has lost many prominent politicians and journalists, as well as public figures, who have disappeared without a trace or who have been expelled from the country.

With the death of Nemtsov, Russia has lost one of the most vivid advocates of the peaceful solution of conflicts, peaceful transformations and reforms. The socio-political effects of this monstrous murder can lead to the hatred and terror escalation in Russia’s society. As the international experience demonstrates, similar terror can be aimed, first of all, at the most progressive forces of society, which is especially disturbing in the context of the Russian authorities’ recent campaign against NGOs and attacks on the freedom of speech.

We think that the reaction of the Western countries to the latest developments in Russia is excessively soft, especially when pellucid actions to curb aggression are being expected from them.

In this connection, we urge the EU countries and the USA to provide a sober and adequate evaluation of this murder that is unprecedented in the contemporary history of Russia, especially in the context of the recent actions of the Russian political management, which are aimed at destabilizing the world safety system and fuelling the aggression against Ukraine.

We consider it necessary to consolidate the actions of the civil society and governments of the European countries in order to support Russian civil society; today its subjects need protection and actions - solidarity!

We express our solidarity with the civil society of Russia and we declare our readiness to walk together the way of democratic changes.

Belarusian civil society organizations, members of the Belarusian National Platform for the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (over 60 civil society organizations and initiatives).

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