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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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