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BOSTON WALK FOR DEMOCRACY IN BELARUS

Rob M.

Hey everyone,

Corresponding with SGD’s official press release below, I will be organizing a Walk For Democracy here in Boston, Massachusetts on Saturday the 15th of October. I urge anyone who is able to attend to email me: robertmayerÉgmail.com

The donation will be $15 minimum, which will get you a t-shirt to wear with the other demonstrators. You can use the button below to donate, which will then be transferred on to SGD. You do not have to attend the march to donate, however, and you don’t have to donate just $15. If you would like to contribute to a good cause, freedom and democracy for the people of Belarus certainly is one. You can even use a credit card.

Of course, you don’t have to donate in order to join in. If you’d like to show up but don’t have the money, that’s alright. The more people the better. It’s just that the more money we raise, the more money we can give directly to the opposition in Belarus.



Students for Global Democracy FAQ for the walk, and for a listing of cities where you can join in.

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Boston, Massachusetts ????????To thousands of democracy supporters around the world, the approach of October 15 means just one thing: activists have just one more year until the 2006 presidential elections in Belarus, a country known as ???????Europe????????s last dictatorship.??????? In a show of solidarity with pro-democracy youth groups in Belarus, Students for Global Democracy (SGD) is organizing the ???????Worldwide Walk for Democracy in Belarus.???????

The Worldwide Walk, which will include Belarusian language slogans, t-shirts, signs, and a pledge drive, also seeks to place international pressure on Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenka and his government to observe international human rights standards, including the right to free and fair elections. In turn, activists will reap a boost in morale, breathing space from persecution, and funds to support their independent media outreach.

Participants will march twelve kilometers, one for every year the Belarusian people will have suffered under tyranny when elections come next year. In campuses, local parks, and city streets, they will repudiate the one-year anniversary of an unconstitutional referendum Lukashenka held on October 17, 2004 to extend his rule. The regime????????s crimes are well-known, and range from falsifying election results to beating peaceful protestors to instigating the murder of journalists and politicians to censoring independent media.

SGD is a non-partisan student-run organization that supports pro-democratic, non-violent efforts by students in countries with undemocratic governments. With a dozen campus chapters across the United States, Ghana, Nepal, South Africa, Taiwan, and Turkey, SGD brings together all sides of the political spectrum.

The Worldwide Walk is the capstone of a six month fundraising campaign in which SGD volunteers raised thousands of dollars for the Belarusian student group Zubr-Bison. One of the founders of Zubr, who cannot be publicly identified for fear of imprisonment, had this to say about an earlier fundraising hike held at University of California-Berkeley: “Seeing the students in California really inspired me and my friends; everyone here ÄBelarusÅ is talking about how great it is to have people that far away supporting us.”

Money raised through the event will continue support to Zubr as well as underwriting the efforts of Third Way Belarus to unite the disparate opposition into one powerful political force for the upcoming elections. Students for Global Democracy will also receive one third of the total receipts to support future democracy promotion programs, such as activist exchange programs between veteran pro-democracy groups.

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