Ales Bialiatski
The European Parliament was unable to translate the speech of the Belarusian oppositionist and asked him to speak in English or Russian. This situation occurred at the ceremonial hearings dedicated to the awarding of the leadership of the protest movement in Belarus with the Andrei Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, TASS reports.
Thus, four opposition representatives spoke Russian and only the fifth, Ales Bialiatski, began to speak Belarusian. However, there was no translation of his speech. A minute later, Bialiatski was asked to interrupt, referring to technical problems, and the oppositionist began his speech three times. They did not manage to translate it, because of which he was forced to switch to Russian.
“The first pancake is lumpy. The Belarusian speech in the European Parliament is not yet underway. Then I will speak Russian, ”said Bialiatski.
In Belarus, for the fourth month, mass protests continue, which began after the presidential elections on August 9. Lukashenka, who ran for a sixth term, received 80 percent of the vote, according to official results. The opposition considers the elections to be rigged.
The Andrei Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was established by the European Parliament in 1988. It is awarded to people who have contributed to the fight for human rights.
