Minsk has announced “Champions of the civil community-2012”; photos

photo by EuroBelarus Information Service

The fourth annual award ceremony of “Champions of the civil community-2012” took place in “LohvinaU” bookstore on Friday, 1st of February in Minsk.

The ceremony was conducted by the prize founders - the Assembly of Pro-Democratic NGOs of Belarus.

According to the competent jury that united the representatives of civil organizations, experts and winners of last year, the champions in next nominations have become:

“Place of the year” – the office of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”;

“Registration of the year” - “Platform Innovation”, a private cultural and educational organization;

“Refusal of the year” – the refusal to accommodate independent public cultural initiative Art Siadziba (Art-Headquarters) and its exclusion from three premises;

“New initiative” – solidarity marathon “Freedom to prisoners of conscience”;

“Regional event” – the creation of independent trade union structures at the “Granit” enterprise;

“Creativity of the year” prize went to the “Swedish airborne teddy bears” conducted by Studio Total.

Belarusan antinuclear campaign, namely its leaders Tatsiana Novikava and Mikalai Ulasevich received the prize “Campaign of the year”. Upon getting the prize Tatsiana Novikava noted that the prize testifies to the attention attached to the antinuclear campaign within the society.

Two persons simultaneously – the journalist Andrei Pachobut and the editor-in-chief of the ARCHE magazine Valéry Bulgakau Civil came to be civil leaders of the year.

As Andrei Pachobut stated in his video-address, two last years were hard for him. “But at the same time, I felt the community support. And it is this solidarity and mutual help that helps people under authoritarian regime. It is what destroys dictatorship”, - told Andrei Pachobut.