Pavel Latushka says he is being pressured and threatened
20 August 2020, 09:15| TUT.BY
Unknown vandals threw paint on the house of Pavel Latushka, former Minister of Culture and Yanka Kupala National Theater director who was fired on August 17, 2020.
Latushka confirmed this in a conversation with TUT.BY and said that he has been receiving threats.
I have not been at home for several days. My mother, who had been living with me, has left Belarus. I am not planning on leaving, even though just yesterday I received several threats and suggestions to leave the country immediately. I was “warned” about the decision made to arrest me in a brutal manner with the use of maximum violence. I was offered a charter plane and a diplomatic vehicle so I would go abroad immediately and not participate in the work of the National Coordination Council of Belarus.
According to Latushka, the latest of such offers was made yesterday, August 19, at 11 p.m.
“I was given several examples of how law enforcement handles people who hold different political views – these include violent beatings requiring hospitalization.”
“Were those anonymous threats or did specific people deliver them?”
“The threats were passed on by specific people, but the sources they mentioned were linked to the secret service. It was I have known literally just for a few days, or unknown people who would approach and threaten me. I asked them to define the level of my personal danger from 1 to 10 and was told 10. But this has not influenced my decision: I have joined the Board of the National Coordination Council. I will defend the right to be a citizen of my country and to have a view on politics. I am not breaking the law of the Republic of Belarus. My current standpoint is rooted in the need for dialogue. It is supported by all the partners in the West and in the East. I will hold these views and will voice them. I want to live in a free Belarus.”
Last night somebody threw paint on Pavel Latushka’s house. Is he planning to press charges to find out who did it?
“My friends have sent me these photos relatively recently. I am looking at them from the point of view of a lawyer [Latushka has a law degree from the Belarusian State University], I am analyzing them, and thinking about the best way to proceed. I do not have time to personally submit a formal complaint. I need to take legal action, but I understand that it may be in vain.”
“Unfortunately, we have built a country where law enforcement does not protect the rights and interests of our citizens. Instead it does everything possible to create an atmosphere of fear to make us afraid to express ourselves. We have built a country where law enforcement controls its major institutions.”
On Yanka Kupala National Theater:
“None of the theater’s founders could imagine the drama that is law enforcement using deep cleaning of the building as a pretense in order to prevent its actors from entering the theater.”
“Isn’t this law enforcement undermining the functioning of state institutions? — asks Pavel Latushka — Institutions that foster the spirit of the people, of our understanding of our roots and of the significance of our culture. How are we going to rebuild the theater later when state television is slandering it now? I know the BT channel journalists who are doing this. I want to ask them: why were you reporting so positively on the theater just a short time ago, why were you praising it then? It had so many interesting projects! And now you have changed your tune. How long are you going to be like this? Maybe it’s enough? Maybe it’s time to stop and think?”
“People, be humans! Not pawns, not sheep who say what they are told to say, Latushko says to people who are doing this. — Where is your conscience? Please, I am asking, I don’t threaten anyone ever. We are Belarusians; we are a tolerant people. We have to seek a way out through dialogue, not force. These are unprecedented actions aimed at blocking the functioning of the main cultural institution of our country. Where else in Europe could this be happening?”
Today Latushka is planning to address theater communities as well as theaters of Belarus and other countries.
[I would like to ask] you to support actors and theater employees who have had to resign from their jobs and to make your position known to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus. Please provide financial aid to the actors and employees. It is very important. Several theaters in Lithuania and Poland have already announced employment opportunities for them should they ultimately lose their jobs. But I know that none of them wants to leave Belarus. We want to work here, for the sake of Belarus and our culture, for the sake of our theater lovers who are in the millions. Millions of people love and cherish the Yanka Kupala National Theater. They love it for having had an independent position throughout its history and the right to voice it, which is currently being destroyed.
Pavel Latushka was fired from his post as theater director on August 17, 2020. In his speech to the theater troupe that gathered to support him, Latushka said that the Minister of Culture Yury Bondar told him that the decision to remove him had been approved by the Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko. In addition, the Minister advised him not to talk publicly about his civic position.
Minister of Culture Yury Bondar visited the theater on August 18. He asked not to politicize the situation:
“Latushka chose his path, and we respect him. But this is a state theater. We need to respect its ethical norms.”
In response to the Minister, theater employees raised their resignation letters and announced that he had time until 10 a.m. the next day, August 19, to resign if he does not satisfy their demands and reinstate Pavel Latushka as theater director. They placed their resignation letters in front of the Minister. They shouted “Shame!” and “Resign!” Over 100 letters were written.
At 10 a.m. on August 19 their ultimatum expired but they cannot enter their theater, even though they have not been officially fired. According to the actors, their resignations have not been accepted.
Since the morning of August 19, access to the theater has been blocked: neither employees nor actors can enter the building. The official explanation is that the building is closed for deep cleaning. August 19 and 20 have been declared days off.
Source: TUT.BY
Pavel Latushka spoke about the situation in the country on August 16, and that same evening he joined in an open address to the citizens of Belarus, and to the armed forces specifically. The address calls for immediate resignation and legal prosecution of all those who gave “malevolent orders” and “all officials who are guilty of or are implicated in these crimes.” The address also calls on the armed forces to protect the people of Belarus and the country’s sovereignty.
On August 17, a white-red-white flag was raised over the theater. Employees of the theater were asked to take it down but they refused. The flag is now gone.
On August 18, Latushka became a member of the National Coordination Council of Belarus.
