Revenge for the truth about Raman Bandarenka, the law on deprivation of Belarusian citizenship, the head managers of Belaruskali lie to their foreign partners
19 November 2020 | BYHelp-Mediagroup
Source: Radio Free Europe
A criminal case was initiated against a doctor who said that Bandarenka had been sober; a journalist who published that material was detained
No criminal case has been opened regarding the death of Raman Bandarenka. However, the General Prosecutor’s Office has opened a criminal case for revealing the results of Raman’s medical examination. After Raman’s death, the state authorities and Lukashenko claimed that Raman had been drunk. However, the medical certificate indicated that there was no alcohol in his blood.
Today, the doctor who had sent this medical certificate to journalists has been detained on a criminal charge of violating medical privacy (however, such a case can only be initiated at the request of relatives). On the same day, Alena Bandarenka, Raman Bandarenka’s mother, sent journalists a copy of her son’s laboratory blood test. The document states that there was 0 permille of alcohol in the man’s blood. Alena Bandarenka additionally stressed that she allows the dissemination of this information.
TUT.BY journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich, who was investigating the details of Raman’s death, was also detained. She was seized on her way to the store.
Raman Bandarenka’s burial will be held on 20 November.
Authorities will have the right to deprive people of Belarusian citizenship
Members of parliament have approved amendments to the law “On Citizenship”. In particular, the amendments specify that a citizen of Belarus may lose their citizenship due to participation in “terrorist or other extremist activity or due to causing serious damage to the interests of Belarus”.
The law about the deprivation of Belarusian citizenship will not apply to citizens of Belarus born within modern borders of the republic or to those who were citizens of the USSR and received Belarusian citizenship. Note that the articles “extremism” and “terrorism” are often used by the Belarusian authorities to charge dissidents.
Belaruskali has fired 49 workers; pressure on striking workers and their families is intensifying
Belaruskali has fired 49 workers who took part in the strike and has announced that it would take similar measures in the future towards workers joining strikes.
Meanwhile, during a conversation with the management of the Norwegian company YARA, General Director of Belaruskali Ivan Halavaty lied that all the cases of layoffs, persecution, unprecedented pressure on workers and their families, searches of apartments and deprivation of dormitories are made up and do not correspond to reality. Besides, he is ready to return employees who are in forced absence to their workplaces.
The strike committee of Belaruskali officially claims: “No steps towards the staff and the representatives of the strike committee have been made by the management of Belaruskali. Violations of basic rights of workers and their families continue.”
On 13 November, members of the strike committee and residents of the city organised a trip to the homeland of national hero Tadeusz Kosciuszko. As a result, all the families with young children, the tour guide and the driver were detained on trumped-up charges contrary to the Constitution. According to the Ivatsevichy district police department, the bus with the participants had been followed from the very beginning. However, the most interesting part began the night after the arrests. At night, employees of Belaruskali’s personnel department were brought to the Ivatsevichy detention centre. There, by the order of Ivan Halavaty and in the presence of the police officers who filmed everything, they forced the detained members of the strike committee to sign dismissal orders. Under pressure, some of the detainees signed those orders.
It turns out that the Belaruskali general director simply lies to his business partners, who respect their business reputation and refuse to cooperate with companies which violate workers’ rights. Moreover, Ivan Halavaty forgot to mention that many Belaruskali workers have been deprived of incentive payments in the form of bonuses and contract allowances for expressing their civic stance. Many have been fined, some arrested – and more than once.
The EU will no longer give a single euro to Lukashenko’s government
The Foreign Ministers of the 27 EU countries have agreed to prepare a new set of sanctions against the authorities and ministries of Belarus, stated High Representative of the EU Josep Borrell on Thursday. According to him, the EU will no longer allocate a single euro to Lukashenko’s government. All funds for Belarus will go to civil society through regulatory agencies.
For more information on the events of 19 November 2020, please visit Infocenter Free Belarus 2020:
