LIBERATED YOUTH VALUES BELARUS' FREEDOM ABOVE HIS

C O N F I D E N T I A L MINSK 000092 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/08/2018 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINR BO SUBJECT: LIBERATED YOUTH VALUES BELARUS' FREEDOM ABOVE HIS OWN REF: A. MINSK 060 ¶B. MINSK 090 ¶C. MINSK 073 ¶D. 07 MINSK 373 Classified By: Ambassador Karen Stewart for reason 1.4 (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Malady Front (MF) leader and former political prisoner Artur Finkevich told Ambassador he did not seek personal freedom within a totalitarian state. He vowed that MF would continue to support Belarusian democratization and show solidarity for all those repressed within Belarus. He thanked the USG for its steadfast and principled support. End summary. Freedom for Political Prisoners is Just a Start -------------- -- ¶2. (C) Looking still very much surprised by his new found freedom, 22-year-old Artur Finkevich told Ambassador he and fellow MF members would push forward in promoting democracy within Belarus. Finkevich said he feared certain European politicians, in particular German Ambassador Gebhardt Weiss, would see the release of political prisoners as an end instead of a means and offer concessions to Lukashenko. "We don't need that kind of freedom," said Finkevich. ¶3. (C) Finkevich stressed the need for Belarus to democratize broadly, including holding free and fair parliamentary elections, and respecting freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Growing MF and Supporting the Opposition -------------- ¶4. (C) Finkevich told Ambassador that MF plans to continue its tradition of marching to diplomatic missions on February 14 to deliver St. Valentine's Day greetings. The organization should one day have members in every district in Belarus, he said. To that end, Finkevich and Dmitriy Dashkevich (ref A) were to travel to Polotsk February 7. Finkevich said that while there they would meet with local 19 year-old member Yekaterina Solovyova, who had recently been expelled from university and was likely to face criminal charges for membership in an unregistered organization. ¶5. (C) Finkevich predicted that MF would cooperate with the United Democratic Forces on demonstrations, including the upcoming entrepreneurs' protest (ref B),and on parliamentary elections, with MF running a few candidates on the joint list (ref C). Prepared to Suffer for the Cause -------------- ¶6. (C) In response to Ambassador's question about prison conditions, Finkevich said security forces tried to break him psychologically, telling him that either he would stay in prison for the rest of his life or come out only in a wheelchair. Rather than casting himself as a hero for withstanding such threats, Finkevich termed the pressure "the standard treatment," for which "any activist should be ready." ¶7. (C) Finkevich informed Ambassador that he received a telegram from Dashkevich about the latter's release. At that point Finkevich guessed there was a 50-50 chance that he too would be set free. Prison officials gave no hint of knowing of his release ahead of time, however. Comment: Burning the Midnight Oil for a Democratic Belarus -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) Finkevich met with Ambassador just 48 hours after his release; he had last seen us in April 2007, when DCM visited him in protective custody (ref D). Finkevich appeared ready and willing to return to jail immediately if he thought it would promote the cause of democratization in Belarus. Apart from his political work, Finkevich told Ambassador that he and Dashkevich both would continue university studies in political science and linguistics, respectively, through the European Humanities University in Vilnius. When Ambassador asked how he could accomplish so much, Finkevich replied that he only sleeps four hours a night. STEWART