Belarusian Janitors Hollow Out Flags From Under the Ice in the Morning

• Olga Ivashenko
• 16.12.2020, 11:50

The regime stood out again.

Now, in the mornings, employees of housing and communal services pick out and hollow out white-red-white flags from under the ice on rivers and reservoirs. This is the know-how of the Belarusian protesters. With the onset of winter and frost, they came up with the idea of literally letting go of the white-red-white flags for free swimming. They freeze into the water overnight, and you have to sweat a lot to get them. Now, instead of sprinkling the paths with sand in the morning, the communal workers take hammers, crowbars, and hatchets in their hands and go to cut down flags from under the ice. And this is also a very "troublesome business."

It must be said that when giving such tasks to their workers, the housing and maintenance service bosses openly push them to take risks. Ice is not always strong enough to make it safe to walk on. But, apparently, the task of the party is above all.

By the way, last week, the prosecutor of the Homel region, Viktar Marozau, spoke about the allegedly fascist white-red-white flags. He said that the so-called parliament is preparing amendments to the law on extremism for consideration. In his opinion, in the near future, the question of including the white-red-white flag in the list of prohibited symbols should be raised. The teachers were immediately indignant. After all, the prosecutor did not explain how they should talk about this very "fascist flag" in history lessons, which until this year was not such at all.

Symposia of doctors and beauty contests can be organized in Belarusian pre-trial detention centers

Since August, so many Belarusians have passed through Belarusian prisons under Article 23.34 of the Administrative Code ("violation of the procedure for organizing or holding mass events") that jokes have been made about this for a long time.

"I served my sentence with great people; we came up with the startup in a week," some write. "During the first term, I improved my English - I was in a cell with an English teacher; on the second, I was with the doctors - I learned all about my ailments.

There are no other criminals like in Belarus-2020 in any other country of the world. They are the color of the nation!" others say.

On December 11, it became known that after more than 40 days of arrest, Miss Belarus - 2008 Volha Khizhynkova was not released from the police station on Akrestsina Street. She is a well-known model who was recently fired from the National School of Beauty for her "wrong" political views; she is also an animal rights activist and a former press secretary of FC Dynama (Brest).

Volha Khizhynkova was detained on November 8 during protests and has been tried three times since then, each time sentencing 15 new days of arrest. On December 11, a huge support group came to meet her at the pre-trial detention center, but the girl was never released, continuing to be held in terrible conditions: with homeless people, in a cold cell, practically not being taken for walks.

Now Belarusians say: "In Minsk prisons, it is already possible to hold not only championships in various sports, congresses of scientists and doctors, but also the Miss Belarus contest.

The archbishop resigned faster than he was allowed into the country

Metropolitan of Minsk-Mahgileu, Archbishop Tadevush Kandrusevich has not yet been allowed into the territory of Belarus.

This story began in August, when, after terrible events on the streets of the Belarusian capital, the head of the Catholic episcopate called on the security forces to stop the violence, and officials and Lukashenka to come to "a constructive dialogue with society and immediately release all innocent citizens detained at peaceful rallies."

And already on August 31, the border guards did not let Kandrusevich go from Poland to Belarus, from where he was returning from a trip. The Ministry of Internal Affairs recognized the Belarusian archbishop's passport as invalid, and Lukashenka subsequently accused Kandrusevich several times that he had gone to Poland allegedly "for consultations."

All this time, the Metropolitan has to live in the parish of St. Anthony in the Polish Sokolka, 15 km from the Belarusian border, and manage the Belarusian church remotely.

Last week, Kandrusevich announced that in the near future he plans to send a letter of resignation to the Apostolic Nuncio in Belarus, since he is already 75 years old, and this is the age when, according to the Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church, the archbishop must submit a letter of resignation to the supreme pontiff, "who, having considered all the circumstances, will make his decision."

If shortly Kondrusevich is not allowed back to Belarus, he will also have to leave his high post remotely.

Terror against journalists continues

On December 9, Karalina Kniazkova, editor of a local independent website, and her parents were detained in Karelichy. At home, the girl's equipment was seized. For all family members, protocols were drawn up on the most popular article in Belarus this year 23.34.

On December 11, the Belarusian security forces, without giving any reason, confiscated a laptop and documents from Current Time correspondent Roman Vasyukovich at the airport. The journalist was returning from a business trip to Kyiv. A little later, Vasyukovich was informed that his laptop had been seized "for testing for extremism."

Last week, the international organization Reporters Without Borders recognized Belarus as the most dangerous country in Europe for journalists. The report says that the number of cases of violation of the law and journalists' rights in Belarus has grown significantly over the past few months. For example, if 102 such cases were recorded during the election campaign, then in four months after the elections - 449. By the end of 2020, Belarus ranks 152nd out of 180 in the world press freedom rating, behind most countries in Asia and Africa.

Make Father Frost change clothes. Do not paint white and red!

An exhibition-competition "Winter Rhapsody" with unusual conditions was announced for children in the Hrodna region. Works in the category "Christmas tree-Beauty" this year must be created according to certain rules: only in green, blue, blue, gray, and silver colors. No white or red! The organizers of the competition themselves, of course, say that "such a selection of colors has nothing to do with politics." But they emphasize: all competitive works will be exhibited in the Hrodna regional executive committee's foyer.

Now the Belarusians are wondering: what will happen to Father Frost? He's also red and white.

And won't the whole rowan be cut in Belarus this winter? What if, all of a sudden, the red berries will be powdered with white snow.

And this is far from the only absurd case about the "terrible colors."

So, for example, a letter got to the Network in which employees of a chain of stores are asked to avoid the very combination of colors in the manufacture of fruit jelly. After the scandal that happened due to the fact that the document got on the Internet, everything was blamed on the employee. Like, this is his personal initiative and not an instruction from above.

Last week, it was decided to close several Vitalur stores because they did not have the "correct" national flags. In response, a resident of Hrodna created a petition and collects signatures under the demand "to explain the conditions for hanging personal belongings, consisting of clothes of white-red-white colors, for drying on the glassed-in balcony, so that he would act in accordance with the legislation and legal norms of the Republic of Belarus and does not violate Art. 10 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Mass Events in the Republic of Belarus."

Gentle policemen and terrible Belarusians

The third resident of Vitsebsk is already on trial for violence against a policeman.

"It's scary to even walk past them. If you sneeze, they immediately get injuries incompatible with life," the Belarusians joke. In the meantime, not a single criminal case has been initiated against the security forces, as well as cases of murders, including Raman Bandarenka.

But five people were convicted for the inscription on the asphalt: "We will not forget, we will not forgive." Sentences - from one and a half years of "chemistry" to two years in prison. A 67-year-old pensioner was imprisoned for ten days for participating in the March, and five hockey players of the Lokomotiv team were fined for not holding their hands to their hearts during the performance of the Belarusian anthem.

On weekends, Lukashenka's supporters with songs, flags, and welcoming posters greeted convoys of transport vehicles along the road to detain peaceful protesters.

A few hours later, people with truncheons from the same paddy wagons detained an entire school class in Smaliavichy: eleventh graders were returning from a rehearsal of the graduation waltz. All were taken to the police station and ordered to face the wall. Then, however, one of the policemen noticed that they were children. After that, the schoolchildren were released. One of the senior students later said: "I know the bus in which we were taken to the police department. We used to go to a concert with an orchestra on it. It is allocated by the regional executive committee." Schoolchildren are members of the famous Smaliavichy children's orchestra, laureates of numerous republican and international competitions.

Meanwhile, an 87-year-old resident of Minsk, Lizaveta Bursova, was convicted of hanging a white-red-white flag in the window of her apartment.

Olga Ivashenko, Novaya Gazeta