On 9 December the Bremen office of the Association of German Trade Unions (DGB) opened an exhibition on politically freed trade union activists from Belarus
In the lobby of the Bremen Trade Union House, where the offices of the key trade unions are located, stands with portraits of imprisoned trade union leaders and activists were displayed. Some of them, such as Andrey Hanevich and Janina Malash, have already been convicted and are serving their sentences. Others are awaiting sentencing. All in all, there are several dozens of trade union activists and leaders in Belarusian prisons today.
Any visitor of the exhibition will have the opportunity to take part in the LabourStart information campaign and sign an electronic petition for the release of political prisoners and the revival of trade unions in Belarus that were liquidated by the Supreme Court in July this year
Maksim Pazniakou, acting chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), and Ernesto Harder, chairman of the Bremen DGB organization, attended the opening of the exhibition and gave an interview to a local TV channel.
The event took place on the eve of Human Rights Day and the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize. This year's laureates are Ales Belyatski from Belarus and representatives of human rights organisations “Memorial” from Russia and “the Centre for Civil Liberties” from Ukraine. This is the second Nobel Prize in the history of Belarus. The first in 2015 was won by writer Svetlana Aleksiyevich.
The DGB is a German trade union centre, member of the European Trade Union Confederation and the International Trade Union Confederation. It was founded in 1949. It is an association of eight trade union federations. It is the largest (6.6 million members) and most influential trade union organization in Germany, uniting 85% of all workers belonging to any trade union.