30 October 2020 | BYHelp-Mediagroup, Infocenter Free Belarus 2020
A. Lukashenko stated: “If someone touches a soldier or officer (I have already made a remark to the generals), he must leave at least without arms.”
“We endured. I immediately indicated: there are red lines. And God forbid someone will cross them. They [protesters] stepped over them in many ways, I spoke about this. Therefore, those who today go to the railroad, those who hang the fascist banners [the national white-red-white flag of Belarus] on the power lines – in a word, those who today are trying to destroy and destabilize the infrastructure of the state should know: from now on, especially in the apartments of citizens where they hide, we will not take any prisoners.”
Source: M!XNEWS
Expulsions of students due to their participation in protests continues in Belarusian higher educational institutions.
More than a hundred students have already lost their places of study. In response, students continue to gather near their universities, and teachers and alumni from these universities join them. Such protests are becoming more widespread. Police come to universities and detain protesters. Natalya Dulina, associate professor of the Linguistic University, was detained. The day before, she supported the protesting students and became one of the participants in a video message against violence and repression. Natalia Dulina is one of the best Italian linguists in Belarus.
The situation with the entry of Belarusians to their homeland remains unclear.
In the morning, the border service of Belarus said that all citizens of the country who have left abroad will be able to return, but the border guards remain empowered to “make, among other things, individual decisions depending on the situation”. In the evening, it became known that several students were not allowed entry on the border between Belarus and Poland; they remained standing on neutral territory.
Workers’ strikes in factories continue and pressure on the participants persists.
Workers of one of the BelAZ workshops in Zhodizina refused to start work in support of three colleagues who were fired the day before due to their participation in the strike. It became known that the management of Hrodna-Azot announced that instead of the protesting workers, they would look for workers at other enterprises in other regions: Naftan, Mogilevkhimvolokno, and Homel Chemical Plant. According to TUT.BY, there were not very many applicants.
Several more popular establishments in Minsk were closed.
Checks and repressions continue against bars, coffee shops, pastry shops, and restaurants that did not operate on 26 October, the day of the “nationwide strike”. Inspections are carried out at institutions; fines and prescriptions are issued, indicating various reasons: from dust on the windowsill to the lack of masks on the staff (while no official mask regulations have been announced in the country). Some establishments are now officially closed for up to 3 months, which means an effective collapse for business owners who have expressed a civic position.
12:05 pm Student expulsions have started at the Belarusian State Economic University (BSEU) and Minsk State Linguistic University (MSLU). BSEU has expelled three students, and MSLU – fifteen.
12:09 pm Students of the Belarusian State University (BSU) and the Belarusian State Academy of Arts (BSAA) are holding protests at their respective universities.
Source: TUT.BY
12:11 pm A meeting of students and teachers who joined the strike is being held at the Minsk State Linguistic University. More than 100 people are attending.
12:12 pm Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya expressed solidarity with the striking Belarusian students, and invited all who care to support them to gather near the universities today at 1 pm.
12:29 pm The Academy of Arts Vice-Rector, Elena Bokhan, and another 60 faculty members demanded that the expelled students be returned. Among the people who signed the demand are Elena Lobachevskaya, Doctor of Arts, and the famous Belarusian graphic artist, Pavel Tatarnikov.
12:32 pm Ex-geography teacher Ivan Bulva held a one-man protest near the Minsk Gymnasium No. 8. He had placards saying “Conscience” and “Solidarity”. He has been detained.
12:38 pm A mask regime will be introduced at the Belarusian State University from 2 November due to the spread of coronavirus.
12:43 pm Homel teacher Irina Zakharchenko was sentenced to 15 days. In one of the neighbourhood chats, she suggested the community hold a clean-up day at the city’s military cemetery and bring white-red-white ribbons there. For this “terrible crime”, she was detained by riot police. Her relatives – niece and husband – are currently serving sentences for participating in the protests.
12:51 pm Belarusian State Economic University students are holding a protest against expulsions.
12:52 pm Andrey Asipenka, who stood at the Minsk Gymnasium No. 4 with a placard yesterday, has been sentenced to 15 days in jail.
12:52 pm The international coalition fighting Internet shutdowns #KeepItOn invited Belarusian Internet operators to fight Internet shutdowns.
12:57 pm A small solidarity protest is taking place at the Kupala Theatre. The participants are singing “Tri Cherepakhi” (“Three Turtles”).
1:00 pm Three Onliner journalists, Aliaksandr Ruzhechka, Ihar Demenikov and Vladislav Borisevich, who had been waiting for their colleague, Darya Spevak, to be released after 13 days in jail, were detained themselves at the Akrestsina detention centre. Darya was to be released at 1:30 pm. It is not clear what her colleagues were detained for. They all have been taken to the Moscow District Police Department.
1:07 pm BelaPAN video journalist Denis Zhuk was detained near the Akrestsina detention centre.
1:20 pm Large protests have started at nearly all Belarusian universities. The largest one is taking place near the Minsk State Linguistic University. The protesters are chanting: “One for all and all for one”, and holding a huge placard in support of the dismissed Italian linguist, Natalya Dulina.
1:20 pm Lukashenko has once again threatened the protesters with bloody reprisals: “We are not taking prisoners. If someone touches a soldier, he must leave at least without hands, we have nowhere to retreat!” The usurper sounds hysterical.
1:23 pm A prisoner transporter has arrived at the Belarusian State University where the students are gathered.
1:33 pm The detained journalists have been released. Police just took note of their personal data.
1:39 pm Onliner journalist Darya Spevak was released from the Akrestsina detention centre, where she spent 13 days.
1:57 pm Belarusian National Technical University (BNTU) students have been locked in the university’s courtyard.
2:19 pm A Music Academy graduate is holding a one-man protest near the academy with a placard: “It’s time for everyone to sound very loud.”
2:25 pm Lots and lots of people are protesting near the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics (BSUIR), the Belarusian University of Culture and Arts, the Minsk State Linguistic University, the Belarusian State Academy of Arts, the Belarusian State Economic University, the Belarusian National Technical University and the Belarusian State University. One can say all the country’s largest universities are protesting.
Source: TUT.BY
2:53 pm Hrodna Drama Theatre actors Vasily Minich, Natella Belugina, Anastasya Muchko, Maria Meleshko, Maria Butrimovich and Aliaksandr Demyanov have been dismissed. Journalist Natalya Makushina wrote about this on her Facebook page. The total number of people dismissed from the Hrodna Theatre has reached nine. The theatre can be considered to be disbanded.
3:07 pm Concordia choir director Galina Kazimirovskaya remains behind bars.
The choir had to stop its activities as of 29 October. The case has now been sent for review. Neither Kazimirovskaya’s lawyer nor her husband, Zmitser Vaitsyushkevich, know the nature of the charges against her.
3:08 pm Lukashenko on appointing assistants: “We are also recruiting military people in other areas.”
3:24 pm Prisoner transporters and police are near the Minsk Gymnasium No. 8.
Students’ parents are going to gather near the school at 4 pm to honour the detained geography teacher. Those who arrived at the school earlier were chased away by the principal.
3:27 pm At the first power unit of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, they ran a turbine start-up test.
“The so-called first push of the turbine to a reactor capacity of 35% has been successfully tested. The turbine was started at idle speed and the number of turnovers was gradually increased to the design values – 3,000 turnovers per minute.”
3:39 pm Poland announced they are starting a new phase in the Kalinowski scholarship program. All expelled Belarusian students, as well as other repressed individuals, will have the opportunity to continue their studies in Poland. Poland will also provide them with stipends: $320 per month for 1-3 courses, and $390 per month for 4-5 courses.
3:39 pm A Minsk resident who spat in the face of a Belarusian state TV journalist was charged under three different articles.
Minsk police published a video of their interview with the 34-year-Minsk resident, who had spat on the BT journalist Aliaksandr Khoravets during a march on 25 October.
In the video, the Minsk resident, with bruises on his face, apologizes and, after a prompt from a police officer, says that his actions were absurd.
The man was charged with petty hooliganism, disobeying the police, and participation in a rally. His sentence is unknown.
3:44 pm Officials are invited to discuss real levels of support for Lukashenko.
Pavel Latushka, the Coordination Council Presidium member, appealed to Belarusian officials and asked them to anonymously discuss how many civil servants want a government change.
3:48 pm Students and alumni are holding protests at universities. People gather, talk, sing, protest, chant: “Join us!”
4:08 pm BelaPAN journalist Pavel Dobrovolsky was detained in Minsk.
4:08 pm The striking workers of Hrodna-Azot will be replaced by their colleagues from other Belneftekhim enterprises.
4:08 pm Lukashenko, speaking about the end of his political career: “Not gonna happen.”
4:08 pm More than 700 teachers signed an appeal against impunity and violence against civilians.
4:11 pm During the last 9 months, the national debt of Belarus increased to 56.9 billion rubles (USD 21.6 billion), or by 27%, according to the Ministry of Finance.
4:17 pm Police detained Minsk State Linguistic University professor Natalya Dulina.
4:24 pm Dialogue failed to take place in the Belarusian State Medical University (BSMU).
A lawyer was not allowed into the meeting of students and BSMU administration, and participants were not allowed to broadcast the meeting. The university administration wants to negotiate on their own terms and will not listen to the students’ demands.
BSMU management has already expelled 21 students and fired 2 professors.
The students are asking for support and invite everyone to gather by the university at 4:30 pm.
4:34 pm The National Bank of Belarus identified the reasons for the accelerated inflation seen in the third quarter of 2020.
The main factors behind the accelerated inflation in Q3 2020 were the weakening of the Belarusian ruble, combined with the increased expectations of inflation and devaluation in the economy.
4:46 pm A fourth-year student of the Belarusian State University Faculty of Philosophy and Social Science is voluntarily quitting her studies.
“I cannot allow myself to stay in a place where we are to study the concepts of human spirit, freedom, choice, but where we have no conditions for true sovereignty of spirit, freedom, and choice.”
4:49 pm According to the latest information, no one will be expelled from the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics. Students received reprimands and final warnings.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met her advisers on economic matters, human rights and constitutional reform.
The economic group, led by Ales Alekhnovich, presented an analysis of the economic situation in Belarus and its enterprises. Every day Lukashenko stays in power destroys the Belarusian economy and worsens the welfare of Belarusian citizens. The team proposed a plan for economic pressure on the regime. At the same time, economists have prepared a plan for possible micro-assistance to Belarus during the transition period.
5:15 pm Early in the morning, four nurses were detained while standing in a solidarity chain near a dental clinic in Minsk.
Most likely, they were taken to the Akrestsina detention centre.
5:15 pm Today is the 99th anniversary of the Belarusian State University. Students celebrated with placards and protests.
5:15 pm Hrodna-Azot director on strikebreakers: there are more of them than we need.
“The decision has been made. Whoever wants to continue working will remain on staff. Those determined to interfere with the normal production process will be fired,” stated the company’s general director, Ihar Babyr.
5:20 pm A Belarusian wedding in 2020: the newlyweds bring flowers to Aliaksandr Taraikouski’s place of death.
5:26 pm Belarusian State Medical University is asking for help!
“BSMU! 21 expelled, 2 dismissed, security officials are all around. There will be more if we don’t stop this today. Come and support your own,” states the emergency message of the medical community.
5:31 pm More than 850 BSMU graduates signed a petition.
“Should you refuse to satisfy our demands, we reserve the right to demand the convocation of the University Council, to apply to national and international organisations, including in academia, with a petition to suspend the University’s membership in the Bologna Process due to gross violations of academic freedom, as well as seek out other legal methods to cancel the unlawful order of student expulsion, for students to exercise their right to education, compensation for their moral damages, and to insist on changing the University management.”
5:36 pm Minsk State Linguistic University Department of General Linguistics professor Elena Lukashanets has resigned in solidarity with detained professor Natalya Dulina.
5:44 pm Russia wants to blame Ukraine for subversive actions in Belarus.
The Ukrainian side refutes the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov’s statement that the situation in Belarus was allegedly destabilised from within Ukraine.
5:45 pm Brest doctors stood in a solidarity chain on Masherov Avenue. The protest lasted about 15 minutes, and about 10 doctors took part; four traffic police cars arrived shortly afterwards, and all participants were detained.
5:52 pm BelAZ workers refuse to work after their colleague was fired.
Workers at a Belarusian Automobile Plant workshop in Zhodzina refused to begin their shifts due to three strikers having recently been fired.
6:02 pm A solidarity chain has formed near the Belarusian State Medical University. The BSMU administration has expelled 21 students and fired two professors.
6:34 pm Belaruskali OAO Strike Committee Co-Representative Anatoly Bokun has been released after 55 days in jail, @stachkom reports!
6:45 pm Former teacher Ivan Bulva, who stood outside his school this morning with placards, was fined USD$310.
6:58 pm Eyewitnesses in Mazyr report that at least two participants in a morning demonstration in front of the Mazyr refinery, Tatsiana Kazlovich and Mikalai Zhloba, were detained.
It is reported that Kazlovich will be held in the detention centre until Monday. Transfers are prohibited during weekends.
7:10 pm ❗️ Viktar Babaryka will remain at the KGB detention centre until 18 December. His defence attorney has already filed multiple appeals against the extension of his jail time.
Babaryka’s attorney, Dzmitry Laevsky, notes that the defence team is unaware of the legal grounds for keeping Babaryka in custody.
7:18 pm The BSMU administration has made concessions.
Expelled students will be reinstated only if all protests at BSMU stop. However, if a student has been detained, they are unlikely to be reinstated.
According to activists, 150 people are on the expulsion lists.
7:30 pm Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya spoke about those participating in the strike. She named the companies that have joined the strike and thanked the workers:
“I am so inspired by and proud of our workers. I urge you to support them, and not allow the regime, which is trying to outdo the strikers, to pretend the strike is not taking place. Factory workers do not quit, and they are doing that so that we all know we are not alone. So let them feel that all of Belarus is in their corner.”
7:30 pm The Prosecutor General has opened a criminal case “for criminal activities on the railway”, and described acts of short circuiting the railway as acts of terrorism. There are no suspects yet, but the authorities are looking for them.
7:39 pm A former employee of Belkommunmash stated that on Monday, 12 workers held a protest at the company, and on Thursday, they were all laid off, either by mutual agreement by the parties or under a contract article.
8:17 pm Today, 8 medical workers were arrested in Minsk and Brest: four nurses from Minsk City Hospital 3, and four doctors from Brest Regional Children’s Hospital.
8:32 pm The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry handed Belarus a note of protest over closing the border between the two countries on the evening of 29 October. The note underscored that this was a unilateral border closing, and Belarus did not inform Lithuania, which violates the terms of their bilateral agreement.
8:33 pm 75-year-old Iraida Misko from Zhodzina was fined USD$200 for a photo of “protesting” marshmallows. The court likened this photo to participation in a rally.
“Yes, that is how she expressed her protest. With marshmallows,” stated police officer Evgeny Semashko in court, without a trace of irony.
9:03 pm Nearly 12,000 people have signed a petition urging the United States and European countries to consider the Belarusian OMON and Main Directorate For Combating Organised Crime And Corruption as terrorist organisations. The change.org petition has no legal weight, but it is a reflection of the people’s will.
9:28 pm Coordination Council Presidium member Siarhei Dyleuski spoke to the Belarusian people. In his message, Dyleuski urged them to leave state labour unions and be independent.
9:33 pm On his last day as Ambassador of Belarus to Argentina, Uladzimir Astapenka recorded a video message expressing his hope that the white-red-white flag will soon fly over all Belarusian embassies worldwide.
9:37 pm Journalists are departing Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus. Evika Ota and Volha Ivashanka announced they were leaving the newspaper. The paper’s deputy editor-in-chief, Inna Kachatkova, is also leaving.
9:44 pm The Telegram channel “MSLU for Freedom” reports that Yulia Belobrudova, a lecturer at the Department of Theory and Practice of Translation, is leaving the university.
10:55 pm Over the past two months, the police have detained 306 students; 10 students find themselves defendants in criminal cases; 113 people have been expelled from universities.
11:00 pm Evening rallies of solidarity with striking workers and students are being held today in Byarozauka, Baranavichy, Valozhyn, Homel, Myadzyel, Smilavichy, Shumilina, and other cities of Belarus.
