Het is 16 jaar geleden dat Zmitser Zavadski spoorloos verdween. Voor Svetlana, zijn vrouw, eeuwigheid. Zij schrijft op haar Facebook-pagina:

Probably, for us, Zmitser’s close people, these 16 years indeed were an eternity. The eternity of pain, almost physical pain, of struggle, tears and endless waiting. When you cross the path from hope to despair, from faith to unbelief, from fear to bravery.

The most horrible thing is that today to one can tell how much more time should pass before we know the whole truth.

How many claims and appeals should we write, how many pickets and flash-mob actions should we hold so that the authorities of Belarus realize that many people care about Zmitser’s destiny? If someone thinks that time cures and memory doesn’t last long, they are wrong.

All we can do for Zmitser today is to remember him and never leave the Belarusian authorities at peace, demanding an answer to the question “Where is Zmitser Zavadzki?”

Zmitser – the “modest eye of the epoch”, as my favourite journalist wrote about him. Thanks to the lens of his camera, he witnessed all the important events that happened in Belarus since 1994, so his destiny in some way symbolizes the destiny of his beloved Belarus.

I want to believe that when Belarus finally finds its place at the map of the world as a democratic country, where human rights are respected and the government abides by the laws instead of being some sacred caste of the favorites, Zmitser’s destiny will become clear. There will be no mystery of his disappearance, and, most important, the real guilty of his kidnapping will be punished.

Zmitser – we remember you and miss you badly!