The headquarters of the Belarusian opposition Babariko announced the creation of the party “Together”

On August 31, the headquarters of former presidential candidate Viktor Babariko announced the creation of the “Together” party. A video recording of the statement was posted on the imprisoned opposition’s YouTube channel.

“We understand that the time has come to announce the continuation of our fight, but already with the presence of some kind of organizational form in which we can unite all the supporters,” Babariko said in a video message (apparently the video was recorded even before the arrest of the politician).

He said that the main tasks of the movement are constitutional reform and the unification of civil initiatives.

Babriko Chief of Staff Maria Kolesnikova, who later joined Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s joint headquarters, noted thatand during the last three months “the common forces have done more than in the last 26 years.”

“Together we have fought and continue to fight for freedom and for our future. Today we are forming a new, conscious and responsible Belarusian society. New challenges and demands appear, and it is necessary to respond to them. The country is in a political and socio-economic crisis. And we are together we know how to get out of this crisis ”, he emphasized.

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For 20 years, Babariko was the director of Belgazprombank, whose shareholders are Russia’s Gazprombank and Gazprom. He left this position in May 2020 when he decided to run for the presidency of Belarus. On June 18, shortly before the deadline to submit registration applications, Babariko and his son Eduard were arrested on charges of financial fraud. The Belarusian KGB claimed that “puppeteers” from among the “great Gazprom bosses” were involved in Babariko’s activities and that the arrests were not related to the election campaign in Belarus.

Subsequently, the Babariko headquarters and another opposition candidate, former diplomat Valery Tsepkalo, merged with the Svetlana Tikhanovskaya headquarters.

Mass protests have been going on in Belarus since August 9. The protesters believe that the results of the presidential elections, which were held from August 4-9, were falsified. According to official data, current President Alexander Lukashenko won with 80.1% of the voters. Tikhanovskaya came in second with 10.1% of the vote. The rest of the candidates earned less than 2%. At the same time, alternative exit polls showed the opposite picture: Tikhanovskaya’s confident victory.

The Belarusian security forces violently dispersed the demonstrations, in particular with the use of stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons. During the protests, more than 7,000 protesters were arrested (many of them have already been released), hundreds were injured and wounded. According to official figures, four protesters died.