Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is shaking its fists, there were more government security forces than participants in the seniors’ march, witnesses from the OMON riot police admitted that they are accusing the wrong person (spoiler alert – this fact did not affect the court’s decision)
23 November 2020 | BYHelp-Mediagroup
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus in response to possible sanctions: “We have a sufficient suite of measures”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Uladzimir Makei said that the calls for economic sanctions by the authorities’ opponents pose a great danger to the statehood of Belarus.
“We have a sufficient suite of measures that will allow us to respond adequately to possible restrictive economic policies against Belarus. This includes both feasibility and prospects of our cooperation with the European Commission and the European Union on nuclear energy issues, on the common fight against illegal immigration, cross-border crime, drug smuggling, and so on and so forth.”
Source: TUT.BY
Senior citizens marched, but the police provoked a collapse
In Minsk, senior citizens and doctors went to the traditional march once again. As always, the protesters walked on the sidewalks and even waited for the traffic lights to turn green in order to cross the roadway. However, the police blocked traffic on the main avenue of Minsk. And about halfway the path for the protesters was blocked. Further, the protesters were accompanied by dozens of security officials. The march ended with several arrests of the senior citizens.
In other cities of Belarus, senior people also took part in the protest marches, albeit on a smaller scale.
Witnesses from the riot police admitted that the person in the video filmed during the protest and the person on trial are not the same
Uladzimir Chystaforau, a 34-year-old programmer, was detained in Minsk on 22 November. The trial took place today (23 November). Uladzimir, like many others, was accused of participating in unauthorized mass events. Yet, it was a unique trial. The OMON witnesses admitted that it was not Chystaforau but another person in the video presented to the court as evidence. The colors of their clothes just so happened to be similar. The court announced a break to investigate further, but the decision was traditional – 15 days of administrative arrest.
The court fined the brother of the world famous biathlete Darya Domracheva
One of Minsk district courts found Nikita Domrachev, brother of multiple Olympic champion Darya Domracheva, guilty of participating in a protest action. Nikita received a fine of 20 penalty units (about 75 EUR). Domrachev commented on his fine: “This is not normal, but much worse things are happening in our country nowadays.”
Nikita Domrachev was detained very harshly in Minsk on 11 October. He was riding a bicycle to meet his mother and did not have any symbols with him, according to him. He was taken by ambulance from the police office to the hospital, and in the morning he went home.
Continuing with the sports theme: the police published a video in which a man in wet clothes talks about how he, while running away from the security forces, jumped into a water channel to avoid violence. However, he was caught and arrested. The detainee was a famous decathlete Mikalai Shubianok, champion of the Universiade in Belgrade, three-time winner of the European Cup in the team event, participant of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, world-class master of sports of the Republic of Belarus.
Pediatric oncologists wrote letters of resignation
Belarusian Research Center for Pediatric Oncology, Haematology and Immunology has a new director. The staff members explain the transfer of the former head, Natallia Kanaplia, and the appointment of the new one, Anzhalika Sontsava, occurred for political reasons. In their opinion, the dismissal of Natallia Kanaplia is due to the fact that she did not take repressive measures against doctors because of their active civic engagement. The staff at the Research Center have been detained on numerous occasions at the anti-violence protests.
In addition, on 11 November, more than 160 employees of the Belarusian Research Center for Pediatric Oncology, Haematology and Immunology sent a collective letter to the Ministry of Health. The doctors conveyed to the officials “their principled position – their readiness to protect the employees of their institution and prevent dismissals.”
After the change of the head at the Research Center, 16 employees wrote letters of resignation.
This is not the first dismissal of a manager who refused to persecute workers for their participation in protests: the director of the Republican Scientific and Practical Centre “Cardiology” Professor Alexander Mrochek lost his job in August.
The word “Belarusian” was added to the list of the 2020 main words of the Oxford Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary was unable to name its traditional word of the year for 2020, publishing a number of the most comprehensive concepts that describe this time period. Lexicographers noted the adjective “Belarusian” as one of the words of August 2020, because information about the events taking place in Belarus spread all over the world media.
For more information on the events of 23 November 2020, please visit Infocenter Free Belarus 2020:
