Five years ago, the authorities allowed a large-scale celebration of the 100th anniversary of the BNR in the center of Minsk.

Different people got the opportunity to speak then, Svoboda saw how their fate developed later.

On March 25, 2018, the state decided to allow the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the independence of the BNR in the center of Minsk.

The organizers were allocated a site in the square near the Opera and Ballet Theater, near Niamiga.

On that day, a concert of Belarusian bands took place on the holiday, and famous people also performed.

According to the organizers' estimates, up to 50,000 people gathered for the event.

Svoboda remembered who performed at the Opera House five years ago, and what they said then.

We also tell how the fate of these people developed later.

Yuri Zisser: "Ideological ghettos do not succeed"

Yuri Zisser at the holiday on March 25, 2018

"The recent history of our country has shown that ideological ghettos are not successful in our country.

They only divide us and make the nation weak.

Only ideas that unite us all will echo in our souls and be able to be embodied in life.

For this, it is necessary to develop society independently, on one's own initiative, to improve one's life and our entire country with one's own efforts.

This is now the most important, most relevant national idea.

Remembering these two things - the independence of the country and the civil society - we will always have a reliable guide in politics, ideology, culture, media, economy, business, all spheres of life" (March 25, 2018

.

How fate unfolded

: The founder of the Tut.by portal died on May 17, 2020 after a long cancer illness.

He was 59 years old.

The year 2020 was decisive for the portal in many ways.

For coverage of the protests, Tut.by was stripped of its media status, and in 2021, editorial staff were massively detained and the site itself was blocked.

The editor-in-chief of Tut.by Marina Zolatava and the director-general Lyudmila Chekina were sentenced to 12 years in prison this year.

Today, the site with the name Tut.by does not exist, the continuation of its business is "Zerkalo".

Svetlana Alexievich: ""People on the swamp" persevered

Svetlana Alexievich

"Today we have a holiday - we celebrate what we are.

We realize that we are Belarusians.

Belarusians could disappear more than once into the abyss of empires.

For two centuries, everything Belarusian was destroyed... Already in the Soviet era, Stalin turned Belarusians into Russians.

Stalin understood that without a national idea and language there is no people, so the intelligentsia was destroyed first of all.

But these "people in the swamp" persevered and survived.

The soul of the people never died" (

).

How fate unfolded

: in 2020, Svetlana Aleksievich became a member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council.

The Nobel laureate was summoned to the Investigative Committee for questioning.

Now the writer lives in Germany, where she continues her work.

Zmytser Dashkevich: "This reality will not be put in a cell"

Zmytser Dashkevich

"There are also sad occasions: not everyone can celebrate today, dozens of patriots across Belarus are in cells, including the poet Vladimir Nyaklyaev.

I know the cell in which Nyaklyaev sits: its windows are sealed so that it is impossible to breathe, smoking is not allowed there, but the administration specially throws cigarettes to the dummy "ducks" so that they smoke.

Nyaklyaev is driven to the second hole of the skunk.

Kupala was killed at 60, and he climbs into the bunk at 72. He has a nosebleed, the police are laughing at the door, but that's not enough for them.

Generals are gathering, thinking how to harm, how to finish, how to carry out the order.

And they make a decision: to take away the sludge.

They snatch the pencil from the poet.

But the word lives on, the word of Kupala shaped the reality in which we live.

This reality cannot be suffocated, put in a cell or taken away" (

).

How fate unfolded

: participated in the defense of Kurapativ, came weekly to the "Poedem Poedim" restaurant near the tract, was repeatedly detained, punished with administrative arrest.

He was detained by GUBAZIK on March 23, 2022, after 15 days of arrest he was transferred to a pre-trial detention center in a criminal case for "actions that grossly violate public order."

Sentenced to 1.5 years of imprisonment.

He is serving his sentence in a colony in Navasady near Barysava.

Nastya Dashkevich's wife was sentenced to 3 years of "domestic chemistry" according to the same article.

Franak Vyachorka: "Lovkosts will fly from Baranavichy to Berlin"

Frank Vyachorka

"When I was driving here from Zielony Lug, I saw white-red-white flags on three balconies.

I specifically went outside our site and saw people with white-red-white flags walking around the city.

Today we can say: our city.

I will not talk about the past today, but about the future.

Let's close our eyes for a moment and imagine Belarus in 10, 20, 30 years.

It will be a country where Freedom Day will be a public holiday and 100,000 people will be on October Square and the new, democratically elected president will receive congratulations from all over the world.

It will be a city and a country that will belong to the European community.

Fishing boats will fly from Baranavichy to Berlin and Istanbul, international organizations and enterprises will come here, our passport with Pogona will rise in the ranking of passports, and everyone will dream of becoming Belarusians" (

).

How fate unfolded

: since September 2020, Franak Vyachorka has been an adviser to the leader of the democratic forces, Svetlana Tsikhanovskaya, on international issues.

Vyachorka accompanies Tsikhanovskaya on all foreign trips.

Ales Lipai: "Brothers and sisters, we remember you"

Ales Lipai during a speech at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the BNR on March 25, 2018

"No matter how hard, hard-to-reach goals seem, you just have to get up and go for them.

You just have to do your thing.

And thanks to the founding fathers of the BNR for this lesson.

We, today's citizens of Belarus, should simply do our job for the sake of the memory of our compatriots - both together and individually.

In recent days, dozens of our compatriots, patriots of Belarus were detained and thrown behind bars.

Let's show support and solidarity with them.

Brothers and sisters, we remember you, your will is as sacred to us as our own" (

).

How fate unfolded

: Ales Lipai, the founder of the BelaPAN news agency, died on August 23, 2018.

Two months before his death, the Department of Financial Investigations searched Lipai's apartments in a criminal case for tax evasion.

On August 18, 2021, security forces searched and confiscated the office of BelaPAN, blocked the website.

The editor-in-chief of BelaPAN Iryna Levshina is now sentenced to 4 years in prison, former director of the agency Dmitri Navazhilov - to 6, former deputy general director Andrei Aleksandrov - to 14. Levshina and Navazhilov were sentenced for creating an "extremist formation", Alexandrov, in addition, for "treason against the state , non-payment of taxes and preparation of citizens to participate in protests."

SEE ALSO: Journalists behind bars

Sergei Lepin: "There is no love for the motherland without love for the people"

Sergei Lepin

"There is no true love for the motherland without love for its people.

And love for the people is not love for some ideal fictional existence that everyone interprets in their own way.

This is love for one's neighbor, for the totality of people who surround us in all their diversity, religious affiliation, nationality, political views, material well-being and social status, level of education and culture, and even moral values.

Respect the image of God in every person and respect Belarus first of all in your neighbor.

The border between freedom and unfreedom runs through the heart of every person.

A person who is a slave to his passions, full of hatred, anger and lies will gain little benefit from external freedom" (March 25, 2018).

How fate unfolded

: at that time, Siarhei Lepin was the chairman of the Synodal Information Department of the Belarusian Orthodox Church.

In November 2020, Father Lepin condemned the state's fight against memorials to the murdered Roman Bandarenka, calling it "satanic".

Literally a week later, he had to write a statement about his dismissal from the post of press secretary.

Now Father Lepin is the abbot of the Transfiguration Church in Rakovo.

Leaders of opposition parties: The Third Charter

Ryhor Kastusiov

The third Constituent Charter of the BNR, which announced independence, was read by four leaders of democratic parties and movements:

(UGP),

(BSDP),

(BNF Party) and

(For Freedom movement).

How fate unfolded

: the chairman of the BPF Party, Ryhor Kastusev, was arrested in April 2021 in a "conspiracy case".

Yuras Zyankovich and Aleksandar Fyaduta were involved in the case together with him.

Kastusev was sentenced to 10 years in prison, he is serving his sentence in the colony in Ivacevichi.

Anatoly Lyabedzka, Ihar Barysau, and Yuras Gubarevich are currently in exile in Lithuania, Belgium, and Poland, respectively.

Alena Anisim: "...And yet we will get there

Alena Anisim speaks at the "Independence Day" in Minsk on March 25, 2018

"So let the light of the torch, lit 100 years ago by our predecessors, to illuminate the path of our people from historical darkness and non-existence to independence and statehood, penetrate into every Belarusian home.

Let this light fill all Belarusians with pride and national dignity for the next 100 years, and let the words of the national poet Nilo Gilevich come true: "...And yet we will reach, we will reach Belarus" (March 25, 2018).

How fate unfolded

: At that time, Alena Anisim was a deputy of the House of Representatives and the chairman of the Society of the Belarusian Language.

In the parliamentary elections of 2019, Anisim was not even registered as a candidate.

And TBM was liquidated by the authorities in 2021 as part of the purge of NGOs.

Today, Anisim is an employee of the Academy of Sciences.

SEE ALSO: Descendants of the fathers of the BNR.

How the grandchildren of Anton Lutskevich and Arkady Smolich live today

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