Belarus - One week compiled
Just because Santa Claus is coming to town (or maybe he already left), it doesn't mean that the world is at peace. Sure, for a few days now, the national newspapers have shown only a few things more than the seasonal fuzzy cuteness and of course the season has something to do with it: After all, there are a lot of people who don't work around yule time and of course also journalists are justified to have their share of time off, but politics never rest. Unfortunately.
One week ago, early morning, I woke up to hear the latest reports concerning the then swiftly approaching Belarusian election. As a matter of fact that would happen on that very day, which I of course already knew. What I on the other hand didn't know, was about the visual objection against president Lukashenka, also known as (translated) "Hide your grandmother's passport - save the country." This is because that many elderly people in Belarus tend to vote for Lukashenka due to still keeping sympathies concerning the old Soviet structure. Now if looking at the crass, this message might be just as anti-democratic as the Belarus regime itself, because what does it tell? It tells about depriving the elderly ones from their free will, doesn't it?
But there's much more to it than that. First take a look at the video I'm talking about:
Then tell me that you don't see the humour in it, and if you can't, then tell me what's so harmful about it.
As you can see, there's a clear humoristic streak leaping through this film, something that was obviously not at all appreciated by the president:
The three main men behind it, Yauhen Shapchyts (director, also working for Belarus national TV), Pavel Bandzich (agitator in beret, actor and university teacher) and Aleh Anufrienka (the grandson in the movie, attending a 5 year journalist education) were all dismissed, fired, expelled from their posts after these three minutes on the screen; Shapchyts will not be able to work for national TV again and neither will Bandzich, who received a job offer as a tractor driver, be allowed back to his former office, and Anufrienka, the scholar who wasn't informed he was expelled until some time afterwards, is trying to gain back his place. Yauhen Shapchyts found an exit starting working as a freelancer but for his cohorts it looks dark. [The other people involved remain unaffected: "Grandmother" is a pensioner; the skinny agitator and the man smoking in the stairway are all unemployed].
The news didn't bring me this, but the ball was already rolling, and a bigger ball was rolling as well, because as the Belarusian election turned out to Lukashenka's favour with an obviously fake 80%, both his opponents and thousands of people joined the demonstration at the October Square in Minsk against this clear fraud of a so called election.
[Intermission: In Russian and Swedish, take part of Yauhen Shapchyts' opinion concerning the election being interviewed by Swedish Channel 4]
The result of this demonstration was over 600 people arrested, 5 of Lukashenka's opponents either beaten up or imprisoned of both. I'd like to draw special attention to Uladzimir Njekljajeu (Vladimir Neklyaev), the opponent who was beaten into concussion and then taken away from the hospital by the police before recovering To this day there are still no news about Neklyaev. Not even for his wife. By the time these news reached us,all of the main independent Belarusian news sites (svaboda.org, charter97.org, belsat.eu, nn.by and their likes, had already been shut down. Charter97 was the last one to fall; one of their staff members told that the entire staff off reporters and politicians have been arrested and that the translators still in the country fear for their safety. At this point the situation has changed as we can access these sites again, except Charter97, who wrote this plea
The Belarusian KGB is more or less a direct download of the Soviet KGB, filling the same purpose, using the same methods and of previously mentioned opponents, they have made -amongst others- Jaraslau Ramantjuk [Yaroslav Romanchuk] and the chief of Njekljajeu's election staff Andrej Dzmitryjev [Andrey Dmitryev] change their stories:
Ramantjuk
Dzmitryjev
Well the world isn't obvlivious to what's going on...
Nine European human rights organisations eventually composed this letter to the Belarus regime.
Then let's get local: The only swede allowed to cover the Belarus election, Seppo Isotalo is nationally a big joke, but obviously invaluable or at least encouraging, to Lukashenka. This man used to be of the socialdemocratic party (s) but there's no official information about this man since he retired. You may run a google search on his name without finding anything worthwhile, although a few hints of what kind of idiot we're dealing with. His major task in the Belarus affairs is obviously to make Lukashenka believe that Sweden supports his cause.
Then we have Ericsson, just as we had Bofors in the 80's and 90's... selling wire-tapping equipment helping the Lukashenka regime keep track of their people. Makes you a really proud Swede, doesn't it?
But finally, at least our minister for foreign affairs, Carl Bildt, along with European colleagues, shows a clear mind.
You have been informed.
One week ago, early morning, I woke up to hear the latest reports concerning the then swiftly approaching Belarusian election. As a matter of fact that would happen on that very day, which I of course already knew. What I on the other hand didn't know, was about the visual objection against president Lukashenka, also known as (translated) "Hide your grandmother's passport - save the country." This is because that many elderly people in Belarus tend to vote for Lukashenka due to still keeping sympathies concerning the old Soviet structure. Now if looking at the crass, this message might be just as anti-democratic as the Belarus regime itself, because what does it tell? It tells about depriving the elderly ones from their free will, doesn't it?
But there's much more to it than that. First take a look at the video I'm talking about:
Click to viewThen tell me that you don't see the humour in it, and if you can't, then tell me what's so harmful about it.
As you can see, there's a clear humoristic streak leaping through this film, something that was obviously not at all appreciated by the president:
The three main men behind it, Yauhen Shapchyts (director, also working for Belarus national TV), Pavel Bandzich (agitator in beret, actor and university teacher) and Aleh Anufrienka (the grandson in the movie, attending a 5 year journalist education) were all dismissed, fired, expelled from their posts after these three minutes on the screen; Shapchyts will not be able to work for national TV again and neither will Bandzich, who received a job offer as a tractor driver, be allowed back to his former office, and Anufrienka, the scholar who wasn't informed he was expelled until some time afterwards, is trying to gain back his place. Yauhen Shapchyts found an exit starting working as a freelancer but for his cohorts it looks dark. [The other people involved remain unaffected: "Grandmother" is a pensioner; the skinny agitator and the man smoking in the stairway are all unemployed].
The news didn't bring me this, but the ball was already rolling, and a bigger ball was rolling as well, because as the Belarusian election turned out to Lukashenka's favour with an obviously fake 80%, both his opponents and thousands of people joined the demonstration at the October Square in Minsk against this clear fraud of a so called election.
[Intermission: In Russian and Swedish, take part of Yauhen Shapchyts' opinion concerning the election being interviewed by Swedish Channel 4]
The result of this demonstration was over 600 people arrested, 5 of Lukashenka's opponents either beaten up or imprisoned of both. I'd like to draw special attention to Uladzimir Njekljajeu (Vladimir Neklyaev), the opponent who was beaten into concussion and then taken away from the hospital by the police before recovering To this day there are still no news about Neklyaev. Not even for his wife. By the time these news reached us,all of the main independent Belarusian news sites (svaboda.org, charter97.org, belsat.eu, nn.by and their likes, had already been shut down. Charter97 was the last one to fall; one of their staff members told that the entire staff off reporters and politicians have been arrested and that the translators still in the country fear for their safety. At this point the situation has changed as we can access these sites again, except Charter97, who wrote this plea
The Belarusian KGB is more or less a direct download of the Soviet KGB, filling the same purpose, using the same methods and of previously mentioned opponents, they have made -amongst others- Jaraslau Ramantjuk [Yaroslav Romanchuk] and the chief of Njekljajeu's election staff Andrej Dzmitryjev [Andrey Dmitryev] change their stories:
Ramantjuk
Dzmitryjev
Well the world isn't obvlivious to what's going on...
Nine European human rights organisations eventually composed this letter to the Belarus regime.
Then let's get local: The only swede allowed to cover the Belarus election, Seppo Isotalo is nationally a big joke, but obviously invaluable or at least encouraging, to Lukashenka. This man used to be of the socialdemocratic party (s) but there's no official information about this man since he retired. You may run a google search on his name without finding anything worthwhile, although a few hints of what kind of idiot we're dealing with. His major task in the Belarus affairs is obviously to make Lukashenka believe that Sweden supports his cause.
Then we have Ericsson, just as we had Bofors in the 80's and 90's... selling wire-tapping equipment helping the Lukashenka regime keep track of their people. Makes you a really proud Swede, doesn't it?
But finally, at least our minister for foreign affairs, Carl Bildt, along with European colleagues, shows a clear mind.
You have been informed.