Farida’s Appeal from Demonstration 15.06.2020

I was a young girl with big dreams about studying medicine at Sorbonne in Paris, in one of the world’s largest democracies and in freedom. This time was the golden age of my life, and a peaceful time. When I was a student, there was a great demonstrations against the then Soviet occupation. The protesters were armed only with books and knowledge, but the police responded to them with Kalashnikovs and heavy, Russian weaponry. At the hospital, everyone from doctors to janitors tried to save the lives they could. I myself hugged a beautiful woman who lay there. Her body was still warm, but with a gaping hole in her skull she was not breathing anymore. I said: ‘I will never forget this’, and from that day until today has passed 39 years and two months. This, to me, nameless woman changed my perspective on life. The war forced me to set personal dreams aside, in favor of fighting – for justice and for freedom.