Conference on Academic Freedom

Academic freedom and resistance: defending free thought in a world under pressure

Academic freedom is essential for universities to function as spaces for debate, innovation, and questioning. In authoritarian regimes, this freedom is often stifled, limiting societies' ability to progress and protect human rights. Without it, universities become tools of propaganda, depriving individuals of their fundamental right to free thought. Initiatives such as the Free Belarus University illustrate resilience in the face of oppression by dictatorial regimes and constitute acts of resistance.

The conference highlights the importance of global solidarity in supporting persecuted academics. Democracies have a responsibility to act to protect silenced voices and defend academic freedom wherever it is threatened.

Alaksandr Uladzimieravič Milinkievič was born on July 25, 1947, in Hrodna, Belarus, and initially pursued a rigorous academic career, earning a doctorate in physics and mathematics and teaching at the university before entering public life. In 2006, he emerged as the sole candidate of the Belarusian opposition in the presidential election, a symbol of the struggle for democracy in his country, and in the same year received the prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Milinkievič also led the political movement “Movement for Freedom” and remains an important figure in democratic activism in Belarus.