The issue of moving the World Ice Hockey Championship from Minsk is more urgent than ever, Tsikhanouskaya will ask the UN Security Council to convene a tribunal on Belarus
21 November 2020 | BYHelp-Mediagroup
“You can’t hold a competition in a country where the government terrorises protesters”. But why isn’t the championship being moved?
This week, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Council still couldn’t decide whether the World Championship should be moved from Belarus to another country. The indecision of the Hockey Federation’s management has been criticised by many European media.
Swedish journalist Per Bjurman wrote an article for a prominent Swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet. He is convinced that the situation with the championship in Minsk is quite clear: “I don’t understand why anyone is still discussing it. It’s obvious that you can’t hold a competition in a country where the government terrorises protesters and the Head of the Hockey Federation appears to have ties to the oppressors.” Strong evidence was previously discovered indicating that Dmitri Baskov, Head of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation, personally participated not only in the riot police raids across Minsk, but also in the assault on the deceased Raman Bandarenka.
Lars Jorgensen, a journalist of Danish newspaper DR, contacted Henrik Bach Nielsen, the President of the Danish Ice Hockey Union, who stated: “For me, the safety of players and fans is of utmost importance. We can see that the situation in Belarus hasn’t improved since August. And if the evidence against the Head of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation proves to be true, it will be incompatible with the possibility of holding the World Championship in Minsk.”
The Vice-President of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Kalervo Kummola, also opposed the holding of the 2021 World Championship matches in Minsk. Christoph Becker of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of Germany’s leading newspapers, also believes that at this point in time, hosting the championship in Belarus is out of the question.
Tsikhanouskaya will ask the UN Security Council to conduct an investigation and convene a tribunal on Belarus
During her meetings with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya stated that crimes against humanity will not go unpunished. Evidence of the crimes will be prepared for review by the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
She also promised that Belarus will enter into the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in the future. Until that happens, she will continue asking the UN Security Council to conduct an investigation and convene a tribunal on Belarus.
The police wanted to sue a deceased person for participating in a protest
The residents of one of Minsk’s apartments received a bizarre subpoena. The copy of the protocol stated that Aliaksandr Y. Melnikau had actively participated in an illegal protest on 13 September. “That’s the name of my father, who did in fact live here,” said Anton Melnikau, the son of the deceased. “The protocol came to my parents’ address and my mother read it. It upset her greatly as that’s not the best way to commemorate a loved one.”
The police have apologised for the “technical error” and assured that it’s an “isolated case”.
Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich refuses to return to Belarus while Lukashenko remains President
“What he is doing is a catastrophe. After the rigged election in August, 27,000 people have been arrested: scientists, professors, regular people, workers, students. This is affecting all social groups. Lukashenko is destroying the country,” Alexievich said.
Svetlana Alexievich is a member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council. Before she left the country in September, she was the only representative of the Council who wasn’t arrested. After a number of calls from unknown numbers and strangers ringing her doorbell, representatives of several diplomatic missions gathered at her apartment building to protect her from being arrested and detained.
At the end of September, the writer left Belarus but did not plan to stay abroad for good. She is currently undergoing medical treatment in Germany.
Source: Ann Linde’s Twitter
For more information on the events of 21 November 2020, please visit Infocenter Free Belarus 2020:
