Dear Friends of Liberty,

I am writing this to call for your attention and for solidarity with Belarusians who are right now in a violent struggle for freedom under a dictatorial regime.

Our friend and colleague, Piotr Markiełaŭ has been released, but so many more innocent Belarusians are suffering in over-crowded prisons while gasping for oxygen, being deprived of food and clean water, and getting beaten. Two protesters have been killed.

Students For Liberty is deeply concerned about the latest developments in Belarus. After calling for free and fair elections, civilians have been met with a strong violent reaction by the authorities. So far, this extreme police brutality resulted in at least 6,700 detentions, 200 injuries, and two reported deaths. Many protestors who have been detained are still missing.

Belarus needs the international community to put pressure on their local representatives, and Belarusian diplomatic authorities, and show the world that we #StandWithBelarus!

We call upon all of you to join us in a digital protest and help us spread the message about the injustices taking place in Belarus to a wider international audience. We need people to care about what’s happening in Belarus right now.

The internet has been shut-down and communications in and out of the country are limited.

What can you do?

Students For Liberty is leading the charge to show international solidarity with Belarus by hosting a digital protest on Saturday, on August 15th, between 5-8 PM (CEST) outside the Belarusian House of Government.

How to get involved:

Visit the event page on Facebook and mark yourself as ‘Going.’ Share the event with your Facebook friends and ask them to take part.
At 5 PM CEST, use Facebook's ‘Check-in’ feature to virtually check in at the Belarusian parliament.
- Step #1: On your Facebook Account click Update Status → Feelings/Activities → Activities and check-in that you are Attending “Stand With Belarus - Virtual Protest”
- Step #2: Use the hashtag #IStandWithBelarus and specify the country you are supporting from. Example: “I am from Ukraine and #IStandWithBelarus”
- Step #3: Feel free to include individual supportive messages and use the hashtags #FreeBelarus #ProtestWithBelarus
Like, comment, and share other people’s check-in posts. The goal is to achieve maximum international visibility.

SFL will not stop here, however. Here are some other ways you can get involved:

Change your profile picture to use the I Stand With Belarus Facebook frame.
Contact (via email or post) local Belarusian diplomats/ambassadors, and call for them to respect the results where Lukashenko failed to get a majority, and for free and fair elections in Belarus. Click here for sample text.
Contact your local political representatives and urge them to bring awareness to the plight of Belarusians, put pressure on Belarusian diplomats, and to call for free and fair elections in Belarus.

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