Belarus Daily | 8 Apr

Military Academy colonel publicly gave orders to shoot protesters; Tsikhanouskaya invited Norway and Estonia to hold new hearings on Belarus in the UN Security Council; Belarusians who received help from the BY_help fund are summoned for questioning by the authorities

8 April 2021 | Voice of Belarus

A colonel at the Military Academy of Belarus in Minsk publicly gave an order to fire live ammunition at peaceful protesters

The BYPOL initiative connecting former Belarusian security officers published an audio recording in which the head of the general military faculty at the Military Academy of Belarus in Minsk, colonel Siarhei Mazouka, gives instructions to his cadets on how to behave at protests in early August 2020. Colonel uses obscene language, regrets the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of an independent Belarus. He urges the cadets not to be afraid of anything and fire live ammunition at peaceful protesters on his orders. “…Then I will make a decision whether to shoot by myself or leave it to whoever will have live ammunition, I will say: ‘Fire!’ The first shot will go up blank, and then someone … someone will follow with a live one.”

Tsikhanouskaya invited Norway and Estonia to hold new hearings on Belarus in the UN Security Council

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya discussed the upcoming negotiations for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Belarus with the ambassadors of Norway, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, the Netherlands, Latvia and Canada, in an online meeting. She suggested that the ambassadors of Norway and Estonia initiate new hearings on Belarus in the UN Security Council. Norway and Estonia are non-permanent members of the UN Security Council and this status allows them to initiate and organize hearings. 

In the meeting with the ambassadors, Tsikhanouskaya discussed the possibility of strengthening targeted sanctions against representatives of the regime, the adoption of the fourth package of EU sanctions, as well as support actions for Belarusian journalists, human rights defenders, student and labour movements and small businesses that have been persecuted.

The activity of the International Accountability Platform for Belarus (IAPB) which will help bring those responsible to justice in international courts was also discussed.

Belarusians who received help from the BY_help fund are summoned for questioning

Belarusians who received support in paying fines for participating in peaceful rallies from the BY_help fund are summoned for questioning to the Investigative Committee, and the courts want to make them pay the fines again.

A criminal case was opened against the founder of the BY_help foundation, Alexey Leonchik, for “financing the activities of an extremist group” (Article 361-2 of the Belarus Criminal Code). Leonchik believes that by putting pressure on those who received help from the fund, the Investigative Committee is trying to prove his involvement in the alleged mass riots in Belarus. “There are no restrictions in the Belarusian legislation regarding who can pay the fine. This aspect is not mentioned anywhere. Double payment of fines is absolutely contrary to the essence of law: no one can be punished twice for the same offense. This way you can claim the fine not just twice, but three or four times,” Leonchik said.

A pediatric cardiologist with 25 years of experience is fired for a statement about riot police

Alena Baranava, a cardiologist at the Republican Scientific and Practical Center “Mother and Child”, was fired in a matter of hours because of her comment on Facebook that she would not want to treat security officers and does not have any warm feelings for them. Baranava was also fired from the LODE private medical center where she worked part-time.

Baranava had worked at the “Mother and Child” medical center for 25 years and during all this time the management had no complaints to her on a professional level, and her disciplinary record was clean. Children from all over the country came to Baranava for advice and professional help, many of those she followed up from birth into adulthood.

Baranava’s son was detained at a protest rally, and she herself helped detainees at Akrestsina Street and treated those injured by the riot police as a volunteer in the first days after the elections.

Belarus is experiencing a huge shortage of medical professionals. Around 6,500 vacancies are available, 4,700 of which are for nurse and specialist doctor positions. Many medics were fired after participating in peaceful protests or were forced to leave the country. However, a critical shortage of medical personnel does not prevent the authorities from firing highly qualified specialists.