The Czech Senate has once again flown Belarus’s historic white-red-white flag to mark the anniversary of the disputed presidential election held on 9 August 2020.

The flag was raised at the Senate’s headquarters in Prague as a gesture of solidarity with Belarusians seeking political freedom and democratic change. Senate President Miloš Vystrčil said that the initiative was intended to demonstrate support for people continuing to fight for a free and democratic Belarus.

The 2020 presidential election was widely condemned by international observers, who described it as neither free nor fair. Belarusian authorities declared Alexander Lukashenko—who has ruled the country since 1994—the winner of the vote.

The opposition rejected the official result, while hundreds of thousands of Belarusians joined demonstrations across the country. The unprecedented protest movement was met with a violent crackdown. Security forces detained thousands of people, and numerous opposition activists, journalists and civil society representatives were imprisoned or forced to leave Belarus.

The white-red-white flag has since become one of the most recognisable symbols of the Belarusian democratic movement. Although it is not recognised as the state flag by Lukashenko’s government, it is widely displayed by opposition groups and members of the Belarusian diaspora.

The Czech Senate first raised the historic flag in August 2020, shortly after the disputed election and the beginning of the mass protests. It has repeated the gesture on several occasions, reaffirming the Czech Republic’s support for Belarusian civil society and political prisoners.

By displaying the flag again, the Senate sought to draw attention to the continuing repression in Belarus and to remind the international community that the democratic aspirations expressed by Belarusians in 2020 remain unfulfilled.