Boris Hamaida is perhaps one of the most devoted advocates and distributors of independent press in the country. On May 3, the International Day of Press Freedom, members of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) presented him with simple, but symbolic gifts.
As usual, according to long-standing tradition, Boris Hamaida was on that day on his island of freedom at the "blue house", where he has been distributing independent publications for many years.
It is not the first year that the colleagues of the inflexible fighter for freedom of the press congratulate this holiday, which is important for a free society. Last year, a photo exhibition dedicated to Boris Khononovich took place, and BAJ members Alexander Zenkov and Viciebsk journalist Yelena Stepanova filmed a film about the fate of the editor of the independent newspaper "Vybar", the second in Viciebsk since the time of the restructuring of the democratic edition. Viewing the documentary "The Choice of Boris Hamaida" was organized in Viciebsk, Vorša, Połacak, and now everyone can find the film online.
In the same year, the Viciebsk activist was given a notebook and pen, which he was asked to record his memories of the formation of a democratic movement and the development of a free press in Viciebsk. Presented him three photos from last year's exhibition. In one photo taken in October 1990, he was detained by two riot police, which was recorded for the history of journalist and photographer Sergei Serebro.
A very inspiring gift was cards with wishes. According to Elena Stepanova, the idea to print such postcards arose after a number of Viciebsk journalists were sent to a temporary detention facility for a day for covering the events on Freedom Day. It turned out that there were no postcards with optimistic wishes on sale, and to express solidarity and support temporarily isolated colleagues, it was necessary to have such cards.
On the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, Boris Hononovich expressed his opinion on the importance of free journalism and free press: "In each democratic country, the independent press is the fourth branch of power." In the same place where there is no free press, the economy first falls into decay, Observing the development of civilized countries, we see: where the press is free, there is a strong economy, everything is done for the sake of people.
For me personally, the concept of freedom of the press is primarily associated with the publication in Viciebsk of an independent Belarusian-language newspaper "Vybar", which was published from 1991 to 2005. By the way, the entire Belarusian-language edition became thanks to the advice of Vasil Bykov, who read our newspaper."
S. Horki
