in Focus: Through the eyes of international Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists Cover photo: Silent protest in . June, 2011. Siarhei Hudzilin 7UDQVODWLRQRIRULJLQDODUWLFOHVLQWR%HODUXVLDQ%UHH]H,77UDQVODWLRQ2I¿FH0LQVN Contents Editing and proofreading (English): Alexandra Kirby Preface, Yuliya Slutskaya ...... 7 Editing and proofreading (Belarusian): Igor Drako, Taciana Niadbaj 'HVLJQDQGOD\RXW0DUFMXV]:áRGDUF]\N Belarus in Focus: About the Competition, Alexandra Kirby ...... 9 Winners ...... 10 Selection Panel ...... 11 Copyright of the articles and photographs within this book belongs to the articles’ authors or the Competition Articles publishers. Permission was given for the reprint of these articles by competition participants on entering the competition ‘Belarus in Focus’. Solidarity with Belarus,QIRUPDWLRQ2I¿FHDQG3UHVV Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections ...... 13 Club Polska may not be held to account for failure by competition participants to obtain Mayhem in Minsk: a dispatch from inside President Lukashenko’s brutal election crackdown. permission from their publishers. The New , James Kirchick ...... 15 Inside the Snow Globe. Harper’s Magazine, Sam Knight ...... 19 Truth Behind the Pageantry: jail for dissidents in Europe’s last dictatorship. The Independent, Shaun Walker ...... 31 Organizers of ‘Belarus in Focus’ journalism competition 2011: Minsk – Silent Protests and Detention. Latvian Radio, Ugis Libietis ...... 35 In Belarus, is Playing at Reform. Washington Post, James Kirchick ...... 39 Assisting a Little-known Nation. Belarusian Review, Kiryl Kascian ...... 43 In the Grips of Economic Crisis ...... 47 Black Days in Belaya Rus. Polityka, Katarzyna Kwiatkowska ...... 49 Lukashenka’s Regime in Utter Ruins, Belarus Clutched by Crisis. Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, Michal Potocki . . 53 Is the End of Lukashenka’s Regime Coming Soon? Deutschland Radio Kultur, Gesine Dornblueth . . . . . 59 Belarusian Dreams in Independent Culture...... 65 7KHDWUH¶V$FWRI'H¿DQFHLQ(XURSH¶V/DVW'LFWDWRUVKLSThe Independent, Shaun Walker ...... 67 Like Fish in an Aquarium that can Sense the Sea. Delo, Polona Frelih ...... 71 When Theatre is ‘Thoughtcrime’. Contemporary Theatre Review, Brendan McCall ...... 77 Otherwise You Go Mad. Publik Forum, Ulrike Gruska ...... 81 7KHSURMHFWµ%HODUXVLQ)RFXV¶ZDV¿QDQFHGE\WKH1RUGLF&RXQFLORI0LQLVWHUV Spain-Belarus. Contrast of Concerns. Ymalaga.com periodical, Angela Espinosa Ruiz ...... 85 This book may not be sold or used for any commercial purposes. $XWKRUV¶3UR¿OHV ...... 87 2012 Belarus in 2011. Through the lenses of Belarusian photographers ...... 92 Preface For many Europeans, Belarus is a blank spot; it simply does not exist in their consciousness. In the best case, they have heard of ‘the last dictatorship of Europe’, and in the past year, something about political prisoners.

Belarus has given the world dozens of outstanding people, among them, Marc Chagall, Kazimir Malevich, Frantisk Skaryna, Ralph Lauren, and – recently – Maria Sharapova and Viktoria Azarenka. The historic decision to dissolve the was taken in the Belavezheski forest in Western Belarus. In terms of size, it exceeds Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, or Greece. Yet only the neighbouring countries really know Belarus.

There are many reasons for this; the main reason, however, is that after the fall of the Soviet Union and gaining LQGHSHQGHQFHLQZH%HODUXVLDQVHOHFWHGRXU¿UVWSUHVLGHQWLQ±$O\DNVDQGU/XNDVKHQND±ZLWKZKRP we have now been living for 18 long years. From time to time, Belarus is mentioned on European TV channels or in newspapers, usually during election time. And then disappears as soon as the elections are over.

But there are international journalists who during their short visits manage to make friends with Belarusians and become fascinated with Belarus’ history and culture. And they can no longer remain indifferent towards Belarus and Belarusians, to our efforts to live in a free, European country.

And these people become the only medium between us and you. And they keep on trying to return to Belarus and prove to their editors that Belarus is worth writing about.

This book is composed of articles by journalists writing about Belarus for an international audience. These articles help those from outside to learn something more about our country than just the ‘last dictatorship’. And they will help us, Belarusians, to understand that we are not alone with our problems. These articles are by the ZLQQHUVDQGUXQQHUVXSRIWKH¿UVWHGLWLRQRIWKHLQWHUQDWLRQDOMRXUQDOLVPFRPSHWLWLRQ±µ%HODUXVLQ)RFXV¶KHOGLQ 2011 by Solidarity with Belarus,QIRUPDWLRQ2I¿FHLQSDUWQHUVKLSZLWK3UHVV&OXE3ROVND

I know that these journalists will return to Belarus and will write about it. I know that there will be more of them and together we will become witnesses of democratic changes in our country. And that Belarus will open up to the world and cease being a blank spot on the map of Europe.

Yuliya Slutskaya, director of Solidarity with Belarus,QIRUPDWLRQ2I¿FH

7 Belarus in Focus: About the Competition Held between September and November 2011, Belarus in Focus was a competition for journalists writ- LQJDERXW%HODUXVIRUDQLQWHUQDWLRQDODXGLHQFH2SHQWRSURIHVVLRQDODQGFLWL]HQMRXUQDOLVWVWKH¿UVWHGLWLRQRI ‘Belarus in Focus’ received around 50 entries from 14 countries.

The selection panel consisted of two international media experts who have worked with Belarus for several years: Oliver Money-Kyrle, International Federation of Journalists, Anthony Howson, BBC Media Action as well as experienced Belarusian editors-in-chief: Andrej Dynko, Nasha Niva, and Yuliya Slutskaya, Solidarity with Belarus,QIRUPDWLRQ2I¿FH

“I was looking for words which told the story of Belarus in a way that was accessible to a broad audience… not just those interested in Belarus and the Former Soviet Union, but who would not otherwise even consider the place” said Anthony Howson.

Oliver Money-Kyrle commented “The outstanding piece, by Sam Knight, focused on the life of an unlikely hero, Belarus’ last remaining independent pollster, and his brave but ultimately futile attempt to avoid the closure of KLVEXVLQHVVDVKHVWUXJJOHGWRPHHWDRQHZHHNGHDGOLQHWRSD\D¿QHLPSRVHGRQKLPE\¿QDQFLDOFRQWURO- lers. His company’s fatal mistake had been to faithfully record Lukashenko’s falling popularity as the economic cri- sis bit. This one man’s struggle for survival is set against the chill of the December elections, ensuing protests and violent clamp down. Our hero missed most of the election drama as he raced to round up the money in time, only for the authorities to move the goal posts, close his business anyway and charge him with organising the protests.”

“What impressed me most was the level of analysis, the amount of questions that international journalists asked” said Yuliya Slutskaya. “At the same time, though, it was clear that many articles covered the same issues. It would be good in the future to see a greater variety, and I hope that we can help journalists to uncover new topics”.

The six winners of ‘Belarus in Focus’ came to a two-day workshop held in Warsaw, Poland, in February 2012 where they met with Belarusian journalists.

Solidarity with Belarus,QIRUPDWLRQ2I¿FHDQG3UHVV&OXE3ROVNDWKDQNHYHU\RQHZKRSDUWLFLSDWHGWKHMXGJLQJ panel, and our partners who helped promote the competition: Civic Belarus (), the German Marshall Fund RIWKH8QLWHG6WDWHV %HUOLQ2I¿FH +RXVHIRUD8QLWHG%HODUXV 9LOQLXV DQGWKH2I¿FHIRUD'HPRFUDWLF%HODUXV (Brussels). Finally, we are very grateful for the kind support we received from the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Alexandra Kirby, project coordinator, Solidarity with Belarus,QIRUPDWLRQ2I¿FH

9 Winners Selection Panel

Andrej Dynko

NN.BY / Nasha Niva editor is the laureate of several international awards, including Lorenzo Natali Professional winners: Award (EU, 2007), Oxfam-Novib / PEN Freedom of Expression Award (2006), the Russian First Channel Award for Journalistic Courage and Professionalism (2006) and the Hanno Ellenbogen Citizenship Award 1. Sam Knight, United Kingdom (Czech Republic, 2003). Andrej was a lecturer at Minsk University before he moved into journalism as a 2. Shaun Walker, United Kingdom reaction to freedom of speech violations. His latest book is “Baptism of a Nation: Mass Rallies in Belarus in 3. Polona Frelih, Slovenia 1988-2009”, co-edited with Valer Bulhakau and Andrej Kazakievich. Andrej is a member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists. Citizen journalist winners: Anthony Howson 1. Angela Espinosa Ruiz, Spain 2. Brendan McCall, Anthony Howson has been a journalist for over thirty years. For the last 15 years he has worked for BBC. A lot 3. Kiryl Kascian, Belarus of that time has been spent in the former Soviet Union and this year he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the journalism faculty of the University of Uzghorod in Ukraine. His career started in newspapers, having trained with the National Council for the Training of Journalists in Britain before he became a senior producer with the BBC. His current work involves travel around the globe. In the last few years he has been working in Gaza, Yemen, An- gola, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. He is 55 years old with three sons and a granddaughter.

Oliver Money-Kyrle

Oliver Money-Kyrle is the Assistant General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists. He has EHHQZLWKWKH,)-VLQFHZKHUHKHZRUNHGDVWKHSUHVVRI¿FHUEHIRUHEHFRPLQJUHVSRQVLEOHIRUSURMHFWVLQ Former Yugoslavia and the wider Balkans, in Central Asia, the Caucasus, Ukraine, and Belarus. In recent years he has worked closely with the Belarus Association of Journalists on a range of campaigning activities for journalists.

Yuliya Slutskaya

Following Belarus’ 2010 presidential elections, Yuliya Slutskaya set up the Solidarity with Belarus Informa- WLRQ2I¿FHLQ:DUVDZ3RODQG'LUHFWRURI(XURSHDQ5DGLRIRU%HODUXV¶RI¿FHLQ0LQVNIURPWR

10 11 Daria Korsak, wife of political prisoner Aliaksandr Atroshchankau, pickets the KGB building where her husband is locked up. Minsk, January 2011 (Julia Darashkevich)

Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections December 19th, 2010 – presidential elections. An estimated 50,000 people came out to protest against the elec- tions results. More than 700 arrested, including seven of nine alternative presidential candidates. Mass searches, repressions for six months. Trials went on until May 2011, resulting in 30 political prisoners. In April 2011, a terror- ist act in the killed 15 people. Summer 2011 saw a wave of silent protests around the country and new political prisoners, who Lukashenka continued to use as bargaining chips to save the failing economy. Relations with the West deteriorated considerably. Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections

James Kirchick (United States) is a writer and foreign correspondent based in Central Europe, and a contributing editor to and World Affairs Journal.

The New Republic, 21st December, 2010 Mayhem in Minsk: A dispatch from inside President Lukashenko’s brutal election crackdown Minsk, Belarus—On Sunday, Belarusian Presi- busted up by authorities (though they did have to notify dent Alexander Lukashenko was reelected to five the government in advance). more years in office. He garnered 80 percent of the But the concessions Lukashenko made were ul- vote, according to official numbers. In past elections, timately meaningless. They were carefully crafted Lukashenko, often called so that the race mere- “Europe’s last dictator,” ly seemed democratic. I all but prevented anyone “With such small steps to was in Minsk for the vote from directly challenging democracy, it will take a minimum and learned of the lengths him. Lukashenko went to in But, this year, he RI¿IW\\HDUVEHIRUHZHDUHIXOO\ order to assure he would earned widespread recog- democratic” win—and to assure that nition for orchestrating an critics would be put in election that was “much their place after the vote. freer than the past,”* featuring all the trappings of Far from democracy, this was the epitome of despot- an open and fair process. There were nine opposition ism. “With such small steps to democracy,” oppo- candidates, each of whom received two, uncensored, sition candidate Viktor Tereshenko told me, “it will 30-minute campaign segments on state television and take a minimum of fifty years before we are fully radio. There was a televised presidential debate (albeit democratic.” one which Lukashenko declined to participate in). And The run-up to the election gave plenty of reason to there were campaign events for his rivals that weren’t doubt that the vote would be conducted fairly. Because the government controls virtually all of the media, the op- position was regularly depicted on television “as thieves, * Link to BBC article: ‘Protesters try to storm government HQ in Minsk’. December 20, 2010, David Stern. tax cheats, and ham-handed,” according to one observer. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12029814 And the head of the Central Election Commission, Lidiya

14 15 James Kirchick Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections

Yermoshina, is already under European Union sanctions that house the parliament and Central Election Com- center of the square. They huddled around their pub- for presiding over a series of sham elections. mission headquarters. lic address system and implored the assembled to stay. It was no surprise, then, that the two leading oppo- At this point, there was no sign that the regime planned “The destiny of the country is decided today!” cried sition candidates, Vladimir Neklayev and Andrei San- to end the protest. Invigorated by the crowd, one opposi- presidential candidate Rygor Kastusev*. But his cries nikov, held a press conference on Saturday to announce tion candidate announced that Lukashenko’s rivals were fell on increasingly deaf ears, as the dejected crowd they had received multiple reports of electoral fraud. demanding to “negotiate” with the regime about forming a slowly made an exodus home. They called on their countrymen to join them the follow- ³FDUHWDNHUJRYHUQPHQW´6SRWWLQJWKHGDUN¿JXUHVRIVWDWH Scattered sweep-up operations by the police, tar- ing evening in October Square, where opposition rallies security personnel standing on the roof of parliament, one geting hold-outs in or near the square, continued over have traditionally been held. The candidates were vague clever protester started a chant of “Jump Down!” Others the course of the next hour. But protesters weren’t the about how they would proceed Sunday night, but, when shouted, “The city is ours!” Before long, the mass of peo- only ones the police were eyeing: There was an unpro- a reporter from a state TV company asked Neklayev why ple swelled to the entrance of parliament, and, not long voked attack on a group of journalists, myself includ- he was encouraging his supporters to act violently, the after, some began breaking the glass doors. ed, as we stood outside the door of our hotel. Shoved candidate responded: “We never use violence. Your em- But columns of helmeted riot police, the spetsnaz, against a Christmas tree, I pushed my way into the hotel ployers have always used violence and force.” were waiting for the protesters behind the entrance. In lobby, where journalists, along with a group of interna- On Sunday, when Lukashenko went to cast his fact, while the crowd had chanted and marched, the tional observers, were made to wait while police stood vote, he brushed off mention of the protest. “There police had surrounded the square and were lying in guard outside the door. will be nobody at the square today,” he declared. wait. What had seemed like unusual silence and inac- At the end of it all, the spetsnatz had dispersed a That evening, it appeared at first that the president tion on the part of the regime—why were they let- crowd of several tens of thousands of people within two had been right. A small crowd crammed onto a street ting so many people clog the main avenue? Why was hours. Reports indicate that many people were injured. corner to hear opposition candidates shouting des- the crowd allowed to mass outside major government But Lukashenko’s regime didn’t stop there. The gov- perately into a megaphone, their voices drowned out buildings?—was, apparently, a trap. ernment made numerous arrests on Monday: Accord- by piped-in Belarusian pop music. The group’s spir- A column of spetsnaz stormed past me, throw- ing to The New York Times,** six presidential can- its were low, likely because of the sparse attendance ing an elderly man to the ground and beating peo- didates were taken into custody, along with more than and cold night air. But ple—all of them un- 600 young men, many of them civil society activists then, suddenly, the event a r m e d — m e r c i l e s s l y. and people involved in the opposition campaigns. Nek- gained steam, perhaps In fact, while the crowd had Presidential candidate Vi- layev was taken from the hospital where he was being energized by the news chanted and marched, the police tal Rymasheuski staggered treated—and his whereabouts remain unknown. Mean- that Neklayev had been past me assisted by sup- while, faced with complaints from Western observers beaten unconscious by had surrounded the square and were porters, his hands covering and domestic critics at a press conference, Lukashenko a group of policemen on lying in wait a bloody gash on his fore- scoffed. “We did just as you demanded,” he said. “What his way to the event and head. I witnessed one po- complaints could you have? was now in the hospital. OLFHRI¿FHUUHSHDWHGO\FOXE Seemingly out of nowhere, the crowd mushroomed a person who was trapped against a wall. The sound of  /LQNWR7UDQVLWLRQV2QOLQHSUR¿OHRI5\JRU.DVWXVHY into tens of thousands, poured onto Minsk’s main truncheons slapping plastic shields was the clear sig- http://belarus.tol.org/?p=171 drag, and stopped traffic with an impromptu anti- nal that unrelenting violence was only a few seconds ** Link to NewYork Times: ‘Belarus Police Arrest Opposition Lukashenko parade. The protesters made their way away—and that one should run. Leaders’. December 20, 2010. Michael Schwirtz http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/world/europe/21belarus. through downtown Minsk to Independence Square, Surrounded, a small crew of opposition leaders html?_r=2&ref=worldhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/ a plaza buttressed by massive government buildings regrouped around the base of the Lenin statue in the world/europe/21belarus.html?_r=1&ref=world

16 17 Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections

Sam Knight (United Kingdom) writes mainly for the Financial Times’ weekend magazine and for Prospect, a British monthly magazine, where he is a contributing editor.

Harper’s, July 2011 Inside the Snow Globe

,ZDVHDUO\IRU$QGUHL¿IWHHQPLQXWHVDWOHDVW, But he was different. He carried an urgency about could have called, but it would have been pointless. He him, a certain drama. We met at eleven o’clock at night, refuses to use the phone these days. So I decided to kill DQGGXULQJWKLV¿UVWPHHWLQJKHNHSWPRYLQJDURXQGKLV time in Park Chelyuskintsev, across the road from his RI¿FHIURPGHVNWRGHVNVSHDNLQJTXLHWO\PDNLQJPH RI¿FH,WZDVVQRZLQJRIFRXUVH$WWKHHQWUDQFHWRWKH lean in to hear. He was unshaven, paranoid, self-impor- park, which is one of the largest in Minsk and is named tant, and skeptical about my chances of understanding for a Soviet steamship that got trapped in polar ice in his country. He called me, inexplicably, a baby camel. 1934, a large banner proclaimed Happy Holidays From But when Andrei began to tell me about Novak, his Your Beloved City. research company, his mood brightened. At one point Abstract plastic decorations hung between the he became so full of ideas that he started making notes branches of the trees—pixels of color in a black-and- as he spoke to remember everything he wanted to say. white landscape. A few steps on, a yellow metal sign Since 1992, he explained, Novak had made its showed the outline of a security camera. It was around money selling information about what Belarusians like noon on Friday, December 17, two days before the end of to watch on TV, but it also carried out social surveys— voting in the 2010 presidential , a asking people about their economic well-being and po- country that is often described as Europe’s last dictator- litical views. Over the previous decade and a half, as ship. I had heard that Andrei was in trouble, and I had been public life in Belarus had shriveled and stagnated under trying to get in touch with him all week. Andrei Vardo- its autocratic ruler, Alexander Lukashenka*, these polls matsky is, without being a saint in any way, Belarus’s had become one of the nation’s last sources of indepen- ODVWLQGHSHQGHQWSROOVWHU,¿UVWPHWKLPLQZKHQ, dent political data. While other pollsters had been shut ZDVLQWKHFRXQWU\WRZULWHDERXWWKHLPSDFWRIWKH¿QDQ- down, forced abroad, or brought into the complex em- FLDOFULVLV$¿OPPDNHUKDGJLYHQPH$QGUHL¶VQXPEHU brace of the state, Andrei said, Novak survived, becom- describing him as an expert in public opinion. After days ing more vulnerable, and more valuable, with each of reporting in Belarusian opaqueness— tours of state- passing year. He now found himself in a Scheherazade run tractor factories; encounters with the intricate rituals situation: the state wanted to shut Novak down, but it of Soviet life in a post-Soviet place; unending scholarly conversations with despairing dissidents— I had gone * The name is Russianized as Lukashenko in the Western media, to meet Andrei without much hope. an example I follow for the rest of this article.

18 19 Sam Knight Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections consumed the company’s polls despite itself, hooked on ULJKWV JURXS DQG 6HUJHL $QGUHL¶V ¿QDQFH GLUHFWRU payment forms for the eighty or so interviewers who the population and produce 8 percent of the world’s their fragments of truth. He would be safe, until he was They were giving a presentation to international elec- FRQGXFW$QGUHL¶VVXUYH\V7KH¿QHZDVHTXDOWRWKHWR- tractors; in the micro-districts of apartment block, not. “There is a feeling,” he said, in his nimble but im- tion observers later that day, but Andrei could not set- tal amount paid through the faulty forms. “It is like you school, and hospital into which the cities are divided; perfect English, “of permanent dangerous.” tle down. He kept darting in and out of the room or buying a car for $10,000, and instead of writing Sam in a parliament that has no opposition; in a secret po- And then he brought out a piece of paper that suddenly holding forth from the middle of the carpet, Knight on the form, you write Sam King, and they make lice that still calls itself the KGB. All over Minsk, well- showed, in a rising then falling line, Lukashenko’s speaking too fast for anyone to understand him. you pay another $10,000,” said Andrei. “The reason is VWDIIHGFROOHFWLYHVGRXVHIXOUDWKHUWKDQSUR¿WPDNLQJ approval rating. In a land where trustworthy informa- Finally, he took me into another room to talk. An- formal. It is to paralyze our work over this period.” jobs. Take the snow: municipal workers don’t just plow tion is scarce, Andrei’s graph was like a soloist tak- drei sat against the wall, behind the door. Every now But why? What had changed? All the report- the streets; they drive the stuff out of the city altogeth- ing off from an orchestra: something clear at last. Since and again, he yanked it open to call in an employee to ing leading up to last December’s elections in Bela- er. During election week, when it snowed most days, the 2006, Lukashenko’s numbers had been plummeting. provide me with some detail of the story (Andrei trans- rus suggested that political restrictions in the country wide sidewalks of the capital became open-air factories With the opposition weak lated, a task he enjoyed). ZHUH HDVLQJ :HDNHQHG E\ WKH JOREDO ¿QDQFLDO FULVLV as hundreds of street- sweeping women, uborshchit- DQG XQDEOH WR EHQH¿W WKH He sent for his English– and harassed by Russia, its chief protector and persecu- sy, made pyramids and lines and also just heaps until country was in a state of In a land where Russian dictionary, and tor for the past 300 years, the government was reaching clearing machines appeared in the early afternoon— inertia, Andrei said, neither trustworthy information is scarce, once for just a single word, RXWWRWKH:HVWWKHUHZHUHPHHWLQJVZLWKRI¿FLDOVIURP advanced models from the Minsk Tractor Works with happy nor volatile. Then ZKLFKFDPHÀRDWLQJLQRQ Poland and Germany about a loan from the E.U., and a lobster-like claws and a single headlight— to take it all he put the sheet of paper Andrei’s graph was like a soloist a Post-it note: DECREE. uranium deal with the United States had gone through away. The whole system never stopped. away, refusing to let me taking off from an orchestra: What happened was just weeks before. In return, it seemed, Lukashenko was Communism may be the predecessor to whatever make a copy, and walked something clear at last this: on August 31, 2010, going to allow the elections to be freer than at any time Belarus is these days, but much remains from other, me to the metro. I had not Andrei was smoking in since his rise to power in 1994. Opposition candidates earlier traumas. It is still a tsarist bureaucracy of over- seen him since. the courtyard of his build- JDYHVSHHFKHVRQWHOHYLVLRQIRUWKH¿UVWWLPHWKHUHJX- ODSSLQJPLQLVWULHVDQGXQUHVSRQVLYHRI¿FLDOVHDFKZLWK I left the park, crossed the road, and rang the bell. ing when a group of cars came through the archway. Fi- lations for political meetings were relaxed (only forty- DIRUPIRU\RXWR¿OORXW,WZDV*RJROLDQEHIRUHLWZDV One of Andrei’s assistants let me in. Andrei was stand- QDQFLDOLQYHVWLJDWRUVVHDUFKHGWKHRI¿FHDQGWRRNDZD\ eight hours notice was now required), and fewer people anything else. If you have a car registered to a busi- LQJLQDQRI¿FHDWWKHHQGRIWKHKDOOZHDULQJMHDQVDQG ¿OHV DQG FRPSXWHUV 6LQFH WKHQ 1RYDN KDG EHHQ LQ- were arrested. So why shut down the pollster? ness in Belarus, you must report its petrol consumption a green collarless shirt. “You have heard about me?” undated with government paperwork, and sixty-nine of “This is the point of view of normal logic,” Andrei to the government every month. No one knows why. he asked. its employees were interviewed by the Financial Inves- said. “This is not their point of view.” Then he looked Every organization, whether a business or a charity, The day before, he had been summoned to the tigation Department. Andrei was ordered to apply for at his watch with a start. He was late again. Before I must use its own, unique rubber stamp when corre- Financial Investigation Department of Belarus’s State a license from the Belarusian Academy of Sciences to was ushered out, though, Andrei took me aside. “What VSRQGLQJZLWKWKHJRYHUQPHQW%XW¿UVWLWPXVWDSSO\ Control Committee. A four-month inquiry into Novak carry out social surveys—a license which he had never about me?” he asked quietly. “Do you found me psy- for a stamp, which it might not get. Power in daily life KDGUHDFKHGLWVFRQFOXVLRQWKHFRPSDQ\ZRXOGEH¿QHG needed in the past, and whose granting was delayed, chologically destroyed?” No, I said. “Good,” he replied. belongs to functionaries who sit behind glass screens 90 million Belarusian rubles (about $30,000), due by and then ultimately denied. And now there was the mat- “It can be imaginated. I can imagine that I am.” Then and are never quite sure whether they have it or not. 4 p.m. the following Tuesday. People can vote in the WHURIWKH¿QH$QGUHLORRNHGXSWKHZRUGLQKLVGLFWLRQ- ZH ZDONHG RXW LQWR WKH PDLQ RI¿FH DQG DW WKH VDPH And over them all sits Lukashenko. Two years after SUHVLGHQWLDOHOHFWLRQRYHU¿YHGD\VDQGQRUPDOO\GXU- ary. “Fine,” he said, “like beautiful.” moment looked through the slats of the cream-color- KHZDV¿UVWHOHFWHGKHZRQDUHIHUHQGXPWKDWJDYHKLP LQJWKLV¿QDOZHHNHQG$QGUHLZRXOGEHFRQGXFWLQJH[LW %\WKLVSRLQW6HUJHLWKH¿QDQFHGLUHFWRUZDVLQ ed blinds into the snowy yard. A man in a woolen hat the power to appoint and remove judges on the coun- and telephone polls, but now all of his attention was on the room as well. “We was just robbed,” he said. Andrei and black leather jacket was standing there, legs plant- try’s highest court and expanded his ability to govern fund-raising. “Two banking days and the days of the liked this, and started reading aloud from the diction- HG¿UPO\DSDUW¿OPLQJXVWKURXJKWKHZLQGRZ by decree. Since then he has ruled as a monarch. The election,” said Andrei. It was not nearly enough time. DU\³UREEHGSLOODJHGSOXQGHUHGORRWHG´7KHRI¿FLDO Twenty years after the rest of the machine broke trappings are modern, but the stratagems reach back There were two other people in the room: a man reason for the punishment, Sergei explained, was an al- down, the wheels of the USSR still turn in Belarus: through the ages. On television, Lukashenko, who has from the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, a human OHJHGHUURULQWKHZD\1RYDNKDGEHHQ¿OOLQJRXWLWV in the state-run enterprises that employ 80 percent of a mustache and comb-over of complementary grays,

20 21 Sam Knight Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections berates his ministers before addressing the people in a after it is announced. This year the big day was to be Three opposition candidates had risen above the the main achievement of the government.” That was why gentle voice. He likes to be called Batka (“Daddy”). He D 6XQGD\² WZR GD\V EHIRUH $QGUHL¶V ¿QH ZDV GXH rest: Andrei Sannikov, a former deputy foreign min- the demonstrations on Sunday, after nine months of cam- has built ice rinks—how he loves to skate— in every Minsk’s small and claustrophobic community of dissi- ister; Yaroslau Romanchuk, a young economist; and paigning, could be so important. “Revolution, whatev- town. His youngest, bastard son, six-year-old Kolya, dents and writers placed friendly bets on Lukashenko’s Vladimir Neklyayev, a poet and publisher. Of these, er,” said Dmitriev, “will never include majority. The only travels with him everywhere, and is known to carry a margin of victory and swapped rumors about the de- Neklyayev—a tall former boxer with a low, distinc- thing that is important to say to them is that this is a force golden pistol. ployment of armored personnel carriers and the likely tive voice and a passing resemblance to Vladimir Pu- big enough, and strong enough, and actually enough, to Lukashenko’s rule is built on the myth of his per- scale of the demonstrations. tin—had been attracting the most attention, not least be- do some changes.” Lukashenko had not made it easy. VRQDO DWWHQWLRQ DOO SXEOLF RI¿FLDOV IURP /XNDVKHQNR One afternoon, I met Victor Martinovich, the depu- cause he seemed to be getting money from somewhere. There was the date: the last Sunday before Christmas, GRZQNHHSRI¿FHKRXUVWRPHHWFRQFHUQHGFLWL]HQV DQG ty editor of BelGazeta, the country’s largest independ- (Rumors mentioned the Kremlin, the German secret chosen, according to the opposition, to forestall any an unmistakable competence. Even Lukashenko’s en- HQWQHZVSDSHULQDFDIp9LFWRUKDVVSHQWWKHSDVW¿I- service, the CIA, and the exiled Russian media baron long-term sit-in over the holidays. There was the cold: emies, “the demagogues”, “the professionals”, “the sci- teen years writing about Belarusian politics. In 2006, he Boris Berezovsky.) QHJDWLYH¿IWHHQGHJUHHV&HOVLXV$QGWKHUHZDVWKHLFH entists” and “the pavement tramplers” agree that he is went to the protests but retreated to his apartment each I dropped by Neklyayev’s campaign headquarters the city authorities had erected a huge skating rink—an a canny politician. He is an animal, they say, who can night. “I was, I think, too cowardish, or probably too at- a few days before the polls closed. At a line of desks oblique symbol of the man himself—in October Square, sense and react to danger before it comes. He is a gyp- WDFKHGWRWKHFRPIRUWRIP\ÀDWWRVSHQGDQLJKWLQWKH under a spiral staircase, young women in winter jack- where the protesters had planned to gather. “No one can sy, or a Jew, or both. Of course Lukashenko does not tent,” he said. ets and fake-leather skirts were updating the campaign SXWKLVKDQGRQKLVKDWDQGVD\,NQRZWKHUHZLOOEH¿YH speak in such fairy-tale terms. “A. G. Lukashenko,” his Three years later, though, Victor fell in love, and website. Life-size cardboard cutouts of Neklyayev con- thousand people on square,” said Dmitriev. “People are RI¿FLDO(QJOLVKODQJXDJHELRJUDSK\VD\V³LVDVWURQJ then wrote a novel called Paranoia, about a writer templated the room. I found a seat and tried to stay out very, very strong and brave in their kitchens.” willed, inquisitive person, very sensitive to shortcom- who falls for the mistress of a dictator. It was banned of the volunteers’ way until Andrei Dmitriev, the cam- :HFDPHRXWRIKLVRI¿FHWR¿QG1HNO\D\HYVLW- ings of the surrounding life.” in Belarus within two days of its publication. He was SDLJQPDQDJHUDSSHDUHGDQGWRRNPHLQWRKLVRI¿FH ting alone, talking quietly to himself. The candidate Every few years, he wins an election. The last time, determined not to miss any protests this time around. “I A snappy young man in jeans, his hair in the bar- was preparing for a speech that he was due to give in in 2006, he defeated the opposition’s unity candidate, a want to be a part of whatever happens,” he said. “And HVWPXOOHW'PLWULHYVSHQGVKLVWLPHÀLWWLQJIURPHOHF- ¿IWHHQPLQXWHV¶WLPH2QHRIWKH¿QDOUDOOLHVRIWKHFDP- physics professor named Alexander Milinkevich, with if another fail happens—and it will happen, another fail, tion to election in Eastern Europe— including stints paign, aimed at creating some momentum for Sunday 83 percent of the vote. A a dramatic fail—I just want for both pro-Western and pro-Russian candidates night, was taking place a few streets away, next to the vigil in Minsk’s October to share that blame, and in Ukraine. He exuded the kind of shapeless politi- FLW\KDOO,ZDONHGRYHULQWKH¿QHVQRZDQGFDPHDFURVV Square to protest the re- Even Lukashenko’s enemies, share the consequences.” cal hunger that makes Belarusian dissidents exciting a clutch of animated demonstrators, a few dozen maybe, sult, the “Jeans Revolu- “the demagogues,” “the Victor spoke with EXW KDUG WR ¿JXUH RXW /LNH 9LFWRU KH WDONHG DERXW VKRXWLQJVORJDQVEREELQJWRKLSKRSDQGEHLQJ¿OPHG tion,” was broken up after equal conviction about the WKHGLI¿FXOW\RIURXVLQJWKHSRSXODWLRQWRSURWHVW,Q by the security forces. four days. And although professionals,” “the scientists,” and necessity of some kind of the late 1990s, when Lukashenko was, in most out- Around the edges, though, with a clear span the past few years have “the pavement tramplers” agree that uprising on Sunday and ward respects, crazier— shooting down American of concrete to separate them, hundreds of people not been easy for Belarus he is a canny politician the fact that it would not hot-air balloons and claiming credit for drought-end- watched. They talked to one another, took pamphlets, and Lukashenko— the happen. “In our tradition ing rains—you could take it for granted that the young and put them in their bags. In the center, chants went country needed an emer- of political culture,” he ex- and the urban despised him. But sixteen years of state- up, and then died down. The only time the entire crowd gency I.M.F. loan in 2009, and he has continued to have plained, “it is going to be totally passive. People are go- delivered prosperity, albeit subsidized by cheap Rus- stirred and seemed to combine in its purpose was D GLI¿FXOW WLPH ZLWK WKH .UHPOLQ² QR RQH H[SHFWHG ing to be gathered together on the square and these sian oil and gas, have implicated many Belarusians in when a fast, frozen wind came through, startling eve- anything much different this time around. guys will say: ‘We are here; there are lots of us and WKH/XNDVKHQNRQHGL¿FH U\RQHWRVLOHQFH$OOWKHÀDJVÀHZVWUDLJKW%XWWKHQWKH For opposition candidates caught up in Bela- we are against Lukashenko; we are starting the whole- “They believe in their hearts that stability is like breeze dropped and the chatter resumed. UXV¶VPLVVKDSHQSROLWLFVWKH¿QDOIHZGD\VRIHOHFWLRQ country strike.’ And then the day after that everybody is a religion,” Dmitriev admitted, “and politics should People love to explain Belarus, and they almost week are mostly spent preparing to protest the result going to be in their places.” be somewhere very far from them. I think this has been always say the same thing: Stalin killed the intellectu-

22 23 Sam Knight Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections als, and then the Nazis killed everyone else. “The main The trouble started with perestroika. That’s when do enough, glancing over at us, to apologize. For min- In the mid-Eighties, Andrei was invited to Mos- result of the second war is not just millions of dead multiple names started to appear on the ballot papers. “I utes, with hand gestures, standing up and sitting down, cow to study under Vladimir Iadov, the leading light people,” Andrei told me once. “The main conclusion very clearly understood that none of them would make they theorized about how such a thing could have come of Soviet sociology, who introduced him to the ideas is national character: people are arranged just to sur- my life happier,” said Romualda. “Politics is not a good to pass, the physics of it, such a tumble! of Ronald Inglehart, a political scientist from Michigan vive. Not to develop. But to survive.” Two and a half thing... Everyone is ‘Me, me, me,’ pushing himself for- When the station closed for lunch, the observer, who in the late Seventies had posited that a global shift million Belarusians, a quarter of the population, were ward. I don’t like this.” I asked Romualda whether she Z’micier Karenka, told me that he no longer recorded in values was taking place as a new generation grew killed between 1939 and 1945, including nearly all of thought it mattered who was , or VXFKFRPSODLQWV$IWHU¿YH\HDUVRIZDWFKLQJHOHFWLRQVLQ XSIRUWKH¿UVWWLPHLQKLVWRU\ZLWKRXWIHDULQJIRULWV the country’s 1.1 million Jews. Belarusian couples still whether anything would change if Lukashenko was re- %HODUXVZKDWKHZDQWHGZDVWR¿JXUHRXWKRZWKHYRWH basic needs. Traditional power structures were going to put their wedding bouquets on the nearest war memo- placed that weekend. “I can’t tell you, because I can’t counting system functioned as a whole: how when it crumble. Self- expression was on the rise. rial, to thank the dead for tell you who all those peo- was over, it would deliver Lukashenko 80 percent of the Andrei returned to Minsk just as Belarus began love. The population did ple are,” she said. “I have vote. “It functions perfectly,” he said. “You know, Nobel three years of ramshackle nationalist government not return to its prewar For many Belarusians, voting is never heard of them.” Prize needs to be nominated for this.” Z’micier said that in the early 1990s. He set up Novak to sell infor- level until 1971. the same as it was in Soviet times: Including the hus- all the volunteers in the polling station we had just vis- mation about the Belarusian media market to ad- One dazzling, snow- bands and wives of their ited worked at the same engineering plant, making them vertisers (each month the company transforms its blind morning in the mid- an act of compliance rather than children, there were answerable to the same bosses. This year they had put survey data into a dense spray of graphs illustrating dle of election week, I self-expression nine people of voting age three separate polling stations in the school instead of who is tuning in to what and when) and to put to left Minsk for Rubezhevi- in Tadeush and Romual- one, making it harder for Z’micier to keep track of what use his own “axio-biographical method” of social re- chy, a village one hour’s da’s family, but they nev- ZDVJRLQJRQ+HFRXOGQHYHU¿JXUHRXWZKHUHDQGZKHQ search. He published surveys about happiness, and drive away, where I met with Tadeush and Romualda er spoke about whom to vote for. “I am afraid of start- WKH\ULJJHGWKHUHVXOWVZKHWKHULWZDVGXULQJWKH¿QDO analyzed the Belarusian soft-drinks market for Coca- Sobolewsky, teachers in the local school, organizers of ing discord in the family” said Tadeush, laughing. “I count, conducted in silence, several tables away from Cola. When he did some work for Stanislav Shush- the brass band, and all-round doers and joiners. Before don’t want it!” Instead, they discussed the possibility the observers; or in the car on the way to the district elec- kevich, the first president of independent Belarus, the war, Rubezhevichy was a predominantly Jewish of an election-day buffet at the village polling station: tion commission; or whether it was done when the police in the early Nineties, he would give speeches about shtetl with a population of 3,000. Now the village has Romualda said there might be beer on tap. came to secure the polling stations each night. “It is like Belarus to foreign visitors: “I was like a Barbara,” a single shop that sells bread, refrigerators, axes, and For many Belarusians, voting is the same as it was VKXIÀLQJGLFH´=¶PLFLHUVDLGPLPLQJWKHOLIWLQJRISRWV he said. “This small white tube for children... a mari- funeral wreaths. Three hundred and sixty people live in Soviet times: an act of compliance rather than self- and the discovery of nothing underneath. onette. Barbara. Barbie!” there. One is Jewish. On the main street, the houses are expression. People cast their ballot between other er- Andrei’s fascination with social science began Andrei compares the thrill of conducting polls to brightly painted and connected, at head-height, by a rands. After I left Rubezhevichy, I spent a few hours soon after he joined Komsomol, the Soviet youth or- VNLLQJZKLFKKHWRRNXSDWWKHDJHRIIRUW\¿YH³,WLV yellow tube supplying them with gas. After an awkward in a polling station in a school in southwest Minsk. ganization, at age fourteen. He went to meetings in his an athletic phenomenon and a philosophical phenom- talk with some tenth-grade students at the local school Every couple of minutes a tractor went past the win- high school in Minsk and could not reconcile the list- enon,” he said, “when you are on top of the mountain (several were preparing for their tractor exams), we dow on some snow-related task, and a voter trooped in. OHVVQHVVRIWKHFURZGKHKDGVHHQZLWKWKHRI¿FLDODF- \RXFDQVHHPRUH\RXFDQXQGHUVWDQGPRUH´+LV¿UVW went back to Tadeush and Romualda’s house for a meal A table of four local election volunteers tended to the counts that appeared afterwards. “Events were on the political surveys appeared in the run-up to the 1994 Be- of potatoes, salted pork fat, and pickled everything. Talk YRWHUV¶QHHGVKDQGLQJRXWEODQN&'VDVDJLIWIRU¿UVW SDSHUEXWQRWLQWKHPLQG´KHVDLG³$UHSRUWVD\V³¿YH larusian presidential election. They predicted the mar- turned to the elections, and Romualda, a blonde, forth- timers and making great shows of embarrassment and hundred people were in the meeting and they warm- JLQRI/XNDVKHQNR¶V¿UVWYLFWRU\WRZLWKLQSHUFHQW right grandmother, made it clear that she was not inter- concern in front of me and a Belarusian election ob- ly applaud and they are in favor and so on.... It was In 2004, Belarusian voters approved a referendum abol- ested. Back in Soviet times, she and Tadeush helped out server when dealing with voter complaints. One woman MXVWO\LQJ´:KHQKH¿QLVKHGKLJKVFKRRO$QGUHLVXU- ishing term limits, allowing Lukashenko to seek a third on the local electoral commission. They kept the money said that she had found her voting information thrown prised his teachers by dropping mathematics and study- term in 2006. Novak determined that the vote on the allocated to build voting booths and spent it on town RQ WKH ÀRRU LQVLGH KHU DSDUWPHQW LQVWHDG RI LQ KHU LQJSKLORVRSK\³7KHUHDOUHDVRQ,DPVRUU\ZDVWR¿QG UHIHUHQGXPKDGEHHQPXFKFORVHUWKDQWKHRI¿FLDOYHU- parties instead. PDLOER[ 2Q WKH ÀRRU7KH FRPPLVVLRQHUV FRXOG QRW a sense of life.” dict, and within a few months Andrei experienced the

24 25 Sam Knight Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections

¿UVWLQWLPDWLRQVRIWKHUHJLPH¶VGLVSOHDVXUHDVWDWHUXQ will be a kind of triumph and they can destroy every- percent of the vote; Neklyayev, in second place, was on There were chants—“Long live Belarus,” “Please television channel chose not to renew a contract with thing,” said Andrei. “They can imaginate that every- course for 3 percent. go away,” and “The people, united, will never be Novak. During the 2006 elections, Andrei’s staff were thing is allowed to them.” I headed down to October Square and ran into defeated”—but every minute or so these phrases would threatened with arrest when they attempted to con- I left Andrei with his wife and went out into the Victor from BelGazeta. He was on the phone, looking be lost in a much more basic roar that rolled up and GXFWDQH[LWSROO$.*%RI¿FHUFDPHDQGVDWLQWKH parking lot, against a swell of shoppers heading in. slender in his overcoat and wearing a woolen hat with down the avenue. And every time that happened, Bela- RI¿FH$IWHUWKDW1RYDNZDVVWLOODOORZHGWRFRQGXFW There was hardly a sign that the elections were still HDUÀDSV DQG WDVVHOV +H ZDV SDOH DQG XQVHWWOHG DQG rusians looked at each other and swore in disbelief and political surveys, but only some of them were allowed WDNLQJSODFH7UDI¿FZDVKHDY\LQWKHVQRZ&DUVVOLG had news: Neklyayev and his team had been attacked demanded to be lifted onto one another’s shoulders to be published. When I asked Andrei whether the state across intersections like children in socks. In October on their way to the square. to look ahead and be- spied on his operation, he replied, “All the time.” Square there were only skaters, circling the govern- Men in plain clothes had hind and to see the scale We were in a café in the supermarket while An- ment Christmas tree, holding one another and falling thrown a stun grenade He looked like a butcher with of their transgression. drei’s wife was shopping, and he was trying to ex- over to the sound of piped-in music. Along the avenue, and then rushed in and a queue of people to serve Hope picked the bystand- plain why the government had decided to shut him in the state-run department store, shoppers forced their started beating the candi- ers from the side of the down completely. It was Sunday morning. The polls way past the million- ruble fur hats, bushels of clip-on date. He had been knocked road and pulled them into would close that night and the result would be declared. ties, and astonishing, lurid tapestries. On the metro, unconscious and was now on his way to the hospital. the crowd. A man on crutches raced past us. In the ho- Andrei had spent the past 48 hours raising funds to pay girls with perfectly level bangs stood in front of adverts (Later that night Neklyayev was taken from his bed by tels and restaurant kitchens along the way, staff pressed RII1RYDN¶V¿QHERUURZLQJIURPIULHQGVDQGFOLHQWV for digging machines, potatoes, and nightclubs. A dia- more men in plain clothes). Victor worried about the fu- their faces against the glass. He was wearing the same clothes as on Friday, but he gram showed passengers how to rescue someone who ture of the opposition. “Neklyayev was the calm one,” $W¿UVWWKLVHQHUJ\VHHPHGWRGLVVLSDWHLQ,QGH- ZDVFRQ¿GHQWKHZRXOG¿QGWKHPRQH\³7KHSURFHVVLV had fallen through the ice. he said. “This was my worst prognosis.” pendence Square. We wandered in the much larger, going quite well,” he said. When I got back to my apartment in the late after- The skaters were gone, and the ice was given darker space, and Victor bumped into some col- Then he stiffened abruptly and stopped speaking. noon, the moon was up in a perfect sky of dark blue. As over to a crowd, not enormous, of curious protesters. leagues from the university where he teaches. We A young man in loose jeans, a heavy white sweater, usual, there were two uborshchitsy in the courtyard, There were families and groups of friends, festive and stood in a semicircle and everyone started talking po- and a leather jacket had come into the café and stood, leaning on their brooms in the snow. It took me a mo- wrapped up. It might have been New Year’s Eve. No litely, as if at a faculty function: it was agreed that there drinking a coffee, next to our table. “I do not like this ment to notice that the rest of the space was full, geomet- one else knew about Neklyayev. We slid our way to the was a bookshop I should not miss while in town. A guy,” Andrei whispered. Finally, the man left and An- rically so, with the black trucks of the OMON—the riot front, where the banners of the opposition campaigns white van with a camera sticking out of its roof rolled drei relaxed. “Maybe sometimes I have the paranoia,” police. In the back of one I saw benches of men, bulky in and their candidates were gathered in a halo of video SDVW¿OPLQJXV%XWWKHQWKHEHOOVRI6W6LPHRQDQG he admitted. “All these cars, mirrors, and windows.” their black gear, resting up for the night to come. OLJKWVDQGFDPHUDÀDVKHV%XWWKHUHZDVQRZD\RIKHDU- St. Helena, the red-brick church that overlooks the 7KH UHDVRQ WKH JRYHUQPHQW ¿QDOO\ FDPH DIWHU Just before eight o’clock, state television prepared ing what was going on— Neklyayev’s team had been in VTXDUHEHJDQWRULQJDQGVRPHRQHKDG¿QDOO\JRWKROG him, he said, was Lukashenko’s numbers. Last spring, WR DQQRXQFH WKH RI¿FLDO H[LW SROO $QGUHL IRU RQFH charge of bringing loudspeakers. The other candidates of loudspeakers, which were hauled onto the base of Novak gave the president an approval rating of just had been unable to produce an alternative number. The had megaphones, but their voices were drowned out a statue of Lenin, who was out there in his suit, with SHUFHQWDQGIRUWKH¿UVWWLPHHYHUZKHQKLVHOHF- screen showed Lukashenko casting his vote earlier by two strains of music uncomfortably overlaid: the his snow-lined angry brow, always striding, ready for tion campaign got under way, it didn’t improve. Given that day. The president steered his tiny son Kolya in pop still playing on the ice-rink P.A., and now a series just this kind of thing, and the head of the crowd rushed the divided opposition, Lukashenko would probably and out of the voting booth by the shoulders. They wore of loud Russian hurdy-gurdy jigs coming from speakers past him to the doors of Government House. On our win any election in the end— even a fair one—but he matching navy-blue suits. Any allegations of fraud dem- in the trees surrounding Lukashenko’s residence. way, we saw the white van again, but this time it was did not have a credible claim to the 50 percent of votes RQVWUDWHG KLV ULYDOV¶ ODFN RI VHOIFRQ¿GHQFH /XNDVK- But soon there was a perceptible shift in the crowd: going in reverse. Someone had covered its camera in necessary to win it in a single round. Allowing Andrei enko told a group of reporters, wiping his brow with a WKHÀDJVDQGFDPHUDÀDVKHVZHUHPRYLQJRQWR0LQVN¶V D UHG DQG ZKLWH ÀDJ²%HODUXV¶V PHGLHYDO FRORUV WKH to keep polling was too risky. Andrei’s fear, even as he handkerchief. He looked like a butcher with a queue of main avenue, and then east toward the even larger In- colors of the opposition. closed in on the $30,000, was that Lukashenko might SHRSOHWRVHUYH7KHIRRWDJHFXWDZD\DQGWKHRI¿FLDO dependence Square. We turned and followed and sud- :HÀRDWHGWRWKHIURQWLQWRWKHOHHRI*RYHUQPHQW never allow him to operate again. “After his victory, it prediction was announced: Lukashenko would win 76 denly there were thousands. The city had come out. House, a plain white fourteen-story block designed by

26 27 Sam Knight Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections the Stalin-era architect Iosif Langbard. At the bank of our brightest loss,” said Victor as we tried to push our come from somewhere else, and he sat and took end- RIVRPHWKLQJYHU\KDUGLQVLGH´$QGWKHQLWZDVGLI¿- glass doors at the entrance, the head of the crowd, with way out of the square, “it was a fantastic loss.” The only less calls from friends who had been in the square, and cult for Andrei to stop himself from imagining a future LWVFDPHUDÀDVKHVDQGSHQQDQWVZDVZULWKLQJDQGVZLUO- person not trying to escape was a young, broad-shoul- repeatedly tried the numbers of those who were not an- without his work. “If you lose this, you will be some- ing about. Above us, hundreds of windows were bright- dered man coming in the opposite direction. “Don’t go! VZHULQJ$URXQGWZRLQWKHPRUQLQJZKHQ,ZDV¿QDOO\ thing,” he said, looking for the expression. “You will be ly lit but empty, save for one, in which the blinds part- Stop! Turn around!” He shouted at us. “If we go tonight home, Andrei contacted me on Skype. He had been just a regular guy.” HGDQGDVLQJOH¿JXUHSHHUHGRXW7KHQWKH¿UVWGRRU then we will wake up tomorrow and Lukashenko will a few hundred yards away in the crowd. “Now I’m— Two days later he would leave Belarus. The in- was smashed in. Next to me, Victor said “fuck” in a still be here!” He waded off toward the police. People how to say—in depression,” he wrote. “No perspec- vestigation into Novak had become a criminal case. low, involuntary way. Everyone paused, astonished paused, but they did not go with him. tives in life.” 7KHQ RQ -DQXDU\  KLV ¿IW\¿IWK ELUWKGD\ $QGUHL at themselves, and then there was that roar again. An- Over the next forty-eight hours, 639 people were On Monday it snowed like hell. By mid-morning, was named by the state-run media as an organizer of the other door was smashed, then another, but there was no arrested in Minsk. Five presidential candidates, eight- the only traces of what had happened in Independ- December 19 protests because of some early consulting way past the steel shutters behind. The sound of glass een of their aides, and a collection of journalists and ac- ence Square the night before were the broken doors of he had done for the Neklyayev campaign. His family breaking was replaced by boots kicking on metal. tivists were later charged under article 293 of Belarus’s Government House, a few beer bottles, and some aban- left Minsk shortly thereafter and they have not been The OMON arrived soon after that. They jogged in criminal code for organizing the demonstration— an GRQHGÀDJSROHV$WDURXQGWKUHHLQWKHDIWHUQRRQ$Q- home since. from the sides, close to the side of the building, clubs RIIHQVH SXQLVKDEOH E\ XS WR ¿IWHHQ \HDUV LQ SULVRQ drei went to the Financial Investigations Department During supper that night, Andrei’s father put on his raised, and swept the steps Months later, some have DQGSDLGKLV¿QH+HVSHQWWKHUHVWRIWKHGD\VNLLQJ old army jacket and we talked about his medals. Ju- in a few seconds, break- been tried and sentenced; We met one last time that night. Andrei was still liana climbed on a chair and put her hands over the old ing hands and cameras. +XQGUHGVRIEODFNKHOPHWV¿OOHG the rest are still waiting, in his ski clothes. We drove to his apartment and I man’s eyes. Then, when it was quite late, Andrei went %XWQRRQHÀHG7KHFURZG the sides of the square and started Neklyayev included. KHOSHGKLPFDUU\KLVERRWVLQVLGH2QWKH¿IWHHQWKÀRRU out to smoke on the balcony, which had a wood-and- nudged forward again. At The protests of De- Andrei’s ninety-two-year-old father opened the door glass frame for winter and whistled nervously with the the doors, men with shields to move in and everyone cember 19, called simply for us. Once a colonel in the Soviet air force, he was wind and snow coming through it. were talking to two of the was furious that they had been “the conspiracy” by the watching an English soccer match through spectacles Andrei looked out over the city and pointed to the presidential candidates in so stupid to be brave government, have pre- ZLWKJUHDWPDJQL¿HGFHQWHUV$QGUHL¶VZLIH.DW\DZDV TV tower. He told me about a weekly show about so- the light of a video camera, cipitated a new and an- preparing supper, and their daughter, a loud, shaggy- ciology he used to present in the Nineties. “It is a good and everyone thought, in the gry phase in the reign of haired little girl called Juliana, stomped about asking country,” he said. “One hundred percent ready to be a most exciting moment of the night, that the police might Lukashenko. Belarusians have begun to compare it her parents to buy her a brother for Christmas. European country.” He shook his head and smoked. stop. For several minutes there was a giddy stillness. In to earlier times, earlier terrors. The economy is creak- Andrei poured some wine. We sat in the corner :KHQKHZDV¿QLVKHG$QGUHLSRLQWHGWRDWD[LGRZQRQ ones and twos, people walked up to the police who had ing under the weight of wage increases that Lukashenko of his living room while his father watched the match. the street—he did not want to use his phone to call one just beaten them and looked through their fogged-up promised during the election, and the After our conversation in the supermarket café, and for me—and we went down in the lift. We said good- plastic visors at the young faces behind. The policemen has lost more than half its value this year. On April 11 a what he had seen at the protests, he had been thinking bye in the doorway, and shook hands. Quite abruptly, stood awkwardly and tried not to smile. bomb exploded in Minsk’s busiest subway station dur- about his life as a pollster in Belarus. “How to explain Andrei pulled me back inside. It is terrible luck in Bela- 7KHQWKHOLJKWVZHQWRXW$ZDYHRI¿JXUHVLQEODFN ing the evening rush hour, killing fourteen people. Lu- this feeling?” he said. “It is like something which you rus to shake hands over a threshold. But we had done it. charged in from the left and cut off the lead protesters. kashenko linked the crime to the turmoil of the election. have inside of the body and which builds you and gives It was done. And when I think of Andrei, and I think of +HDY\WUXFNVUROOHGXSWRWKHGRRUVDQGWKHÀDJVJDWKHUHG “We have had so much so-called democracy,” he said, you the feeling of absolute independence... It is like, Belarus, I think of that moment, and his attempt, born there became worried and jerky and moved too fast. Len- “that it has made us nauseated.” psychologically, an absolutely concrete baton. It is of instinct rather than sense, to right something that LQ¶VDPSOL¿HGYRLFHZDVUHSODFHGE\WKHEHDWLQJRIEDWRQ Even that night, as we made our escape through like a feeling of internal stamina. It is like the feeling was already wrong. RQVKLHOG+XQGUHGVRIEODFNKHOPHWV¿OOHGWKHVLGHVRI the emptying streets, there was a sense that something the square and started to move in and everyone was furi- irrevocable had occurred. Victor and I found a café that ous that they had been so stupid to be brave. “This was was open, full of protesters trying to look like they had

28 29 Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections

Shaun Walker (United Kingdom) studied Russian and Soviet history at Oxford University. Based in , he has written for The Independent since 2007.

The Independent, 4th July 2011 Truth behind the pageantry: jail for dissidents in Europe’s last dictatorship Tanks and missiles rolled through the streets, mili- try has grown. Yesterday evening, around 1,000 people tary aircraft roared in the sky and thousands of troops gathered in the square in front of Minsk’s main train marched past the podium saluting the President. Later, station, in the latest of a long line of “silent protests” columns of costumed schoolchildren stretching as far organised through the internet. They simply stood still as the eye could see danced in formation to the tinny and clapped their hands, but this didn’t stop the police refrain of “Belarus! My homeland!” coming from the from moving in violently, arresting young and old and loudspeakers. throwing them into green military vans. Hundreds of The huge military parade put on by President Al- irregular youths in plain clothes and earpieces again set exander Lukashenko yesterday to mark Belarusian in- on the crowds, punching and kicking those who offered dependence day appeared resistance and at times us- designed to show that he ing tear gas. will not relinquish control Around 1,000 people gathered in Yesterday morning, over his country easily. the square in front of Minsk’s main Mr Lukashenko said that Dressed in full military the protesters were work- UHJDOLDDQGÀDQNHGE\KLV train station, in the latest of a long ing according to plans that six-year-old son wearing line of “silent protests” had been drawn up “in the a matching uniform, the capital cities of certain for- man who has frequently eign countries,” and want- been called the “last dictator in Europe” gave a speech ed to “bring us to our knees and destroy our hard-fought drawing parallels between the Nazi onslaught which independence.” the country suffered during the Second World War, But while he has successfully used such rhetoric in and the current protest movement that his government the past, there is a sense in Minsk that his time is run- is facing. ning out. A protest group set up on the Russian social As Belarus has plunged into a severe economic cri- networking site Vkontakte has over 200,000 members, sis that has halved the average person’s spending power where news is spread about where the protests will take in a matter of months, the mood of dissent in the coun- place, and people swap tips on how to avoid arrest.

30 31 Shaun Walker Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections

For the visitor to Minsk, it can be easy to forget dollars. Mr Lukashenko’s much-vaunted economic against a giant, evil rat. “The allusions are pretty clear, leader has become. Respect for Mr Lukashenko has just how the regime here operates. The city’s broad stability, which did win him genuine support among I think,” she says. already turned into widespread distaste; the worry streets are lined with Stalin-era monumentalist build- a large section of the population for years, has gone When yesterday’s parade was over, Mr Lukash- for the regime is that the economically discontented ings; the pavements devoid of litter and lined with care- up in smoke. enko shook hands with the military generals, while will join the politically discontented and events like IXOO\WHQGHGÀRZHUEHGV)DPLOLHVVWUROOLQWKHVXQVKLQH “People are slowly starting to realise that there was his son Kolya strutted around the tarmac in his mili- yesterday evening’s protest will become impossible groups of young people drink beer in pleasant outdoor never any stability, that it was all just a myth,” says tary uniform. The appearance of the six-year-old at to crush. cafés, and it can be hard to believe that this is a brutal Irina Khalip, a journalist who works for the Russian state events, and Mr Lukashenko’s hints that he is “The best thing would be if he just went of his own dictatorship. newspaper Novaya Gazeta. grooming the child to succeed him, signify for many accord, before we end up with a Ceausescu scenario,” At certain critical Ms Khalip’s husband, An- Belarusians just how out of touch with reality their says Ms Khalip, with a sigh. “But he won’t, of course.” times, such as elections, “People are slowly starting to realise drei Sannikov, was one of there have been mass ar- that there was never any stability, Mr Lukashenko’s chal- rests, beatings and suspi- lengers for the presidency cious deaths, but most of that it was all just a myth” in December. The mousta- the time, the regime runs chioed incumbent won a The regime’s victims on “low-level fear”, says a huge majority in a count Western diplomat based in Minsk. Workers in state-run that international observers said was neither free nor Irina Khalip Journalist for Russia’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper and wife of the presidential candidate Andrei enterprises are kept on one-year contracts, and are eas- fair, and thousands of people protested on the night of Sannikov. ily got rid of if they step out of line politically; the same 19 December. Hundreds of arrests were made, includ- “There were threats initially that our four-year-old son would be taken by the state. When I was released from prison, is true for students. But the number of people willing ing those of Mr Sannikov and his wife. ,ZDVNHSWXQGHUKRXVHDUUHVW,KDGQRWHOHSKRQHRUFRPSXWHUFRXOGQ¶WOHDYHWKHÀDWDQGKDGWZR.*%PHQLQVLGHWKH to risk problems to have their voices heard appears to Ms Khalip spent weeks in jail and months under apartment. I’m staying away from protests for now. Andrei told me that my main task is to look after our son.” be growing. Independent polls show that Mr Lukash- house arrest. She has now been given a suspended sen- enko’s approval ratings have dipped dramatically, and tence but for two years is not allowed to leave Minsk Olga Bondarenko Wife of Dmitry Bondarenko, campaign manager for Andrei Sannikov. while even protesters concede there is not yet the criti- or go outside after 10pm. Mr Sannikov himself, instead “When Dmitry was in KGB detention they tried to get him to give evidence against others, and to write a per- cal mass for a revolution, it is clear that public opinion RI WKH ¿YH\HDU SUHVLGHQWLDO WHUP KH KDG VRXJKW ZDV sonal letter of apology to Lukashenko. He didn’t do either. He has a spinal injury and limited movement in his right is changing fast. JLYHQD¿YH\HDUSULVRQVHQWHQFHIRU³RUJDQLVLQJLOOHJDO leg. While he’s been in prison his left leg has got bad too. I have no doubt about his psychological state, he’s strong “Until about a year ago, I was totally apolitical,” protests”. and he’s ready to suffer for his country, but I worry about his illness.” says Zhenya, a 26-year-old accountant who spoke to During a meeting in a Minsk cafe on Saturday, Ms The Independent over the weekend and whose story Khalip tears open a letter from her husband, the words Alexander Feduta Adviser to opposition presidential candidate Vladimir Neklyayev. seemed typical of young people in Minsk. “But the written in blue biro and the pages stamped with the pur- “They came for me at home at 5am on 20 December. I was in prison for 109 days. There was no physical more I’ve started noticing what is happening in the ple ink to show that they have received the approval of torture – I’m not well and I guess they didn’t want me dying on their hands. But there was a lot of psychological country, and reading stuff online, the more I’ve realised the prison censor. A number of political observations pressure. For half the time I was in solitary. After a while you start to think you are going mad.” we need to change things.” DUH FRXFKHG LQ DOOHJRULFDO ODQJXDJH WR ÀXPPR[ WKH A devaluation of the Belarusian rouble combined censor, before a heart-rending personal ending: “I think ZLWK LQÀDWLRQ KDV PHDQW WKDW SHRSOH¶V VDODULHV FDQ RI\RXDOOWKHWLPH´ZULWHV0U6DQQLNRY³+RZGLI¿FXOW buy half as much as they could at the beginning of it is to be without our son.” the year. “Hard currency” has all but disappeared, in 0V.KDOLS¿JKWVEDFNWHDUV2IWHQVKHVD\VKHU a return to the Soviet system, with exchange booths husband sends stories written for their son, which are and cash machines completely out of euros and US DOZD\V DERXW D SDLU RI KHURLF PLFH ¿JKWLQJ D EDWWOH

32 33 Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections

Ugis Libietis (Latvia) is the senior international correspondent for Latvijas Radio.

Latvijas Radio, 30th June 2011 Minsk. Silent Protests and Detention For the last two weeks, every Wednesday people In this interview Vyacheslav Dianov explains that have been gathering in one of the squares in Minsk. these are not demonstrations or rallies but actions, be- They simply come together and are silent. Sometimes cause according to a law there is no such concept as an they clap their hands and in this way show their dis- action. Some journalists also explained to me that the satisfaction with the regime of Aleksander Lukashenko authorities are really confused, because there is no real and the economic crisis which has taken over the coun- reason to detain a clapping passer-by. WU\$W¿UVWLWZDVRQO\DIHZGR]HQODWHUDIHZKXQGUHG Yesterday’s protest action was also planned to and yesterday maybe a few thousand people. take place in one of Minsk’s central squares – Octo- There is no political leader, no opposition leader to ber Square, directly in front of the presidential palace. call for these protests. Everything is organised through Heavy thunder at midday created some concern that social networks such as Facebook, or Twitter. The au- people would not participate in these protests, however, thorities are trying to restrict such activities, but this is by 7pm, even the sun had come out from behind the a pretty hard job to do. clouds. One of the initiators of these actions is Vyacheslav It is usually assumed that the local KGB is think- Dianov who is now studying in Poland. Belarusian ing a few steps ahead. Last evening was no exception journalists, whose names I will not mention, contacted and right before 7pm, an open-air concert started up on him via telephone. Here is what Vyacheslav Dianov October square. said just a couple of hours before yesterday’s protests: (music in the background) (the voice of Vyacheslav Dianov) ,KDYHWRDGPLWWKDWDW¿UVW,ZDVQ¶WTXLWHVXUHZKDW “We are not leaders. We are just moderators who the purpose of this concert was, then I heard someone activate people who participate in these actions. Lead- congratulating students on the end of the school year. ers will have to prove themselves after the change of Later, I found out that the concert had been organized power. Then they will have to go to the nation and cre- for the youth organization supporting president Lukash- ate a democratic government. This is not our intention. HQNR7KHZKROHDUHDZDVFRUGRQHGRIISROLFHRI¿FHUV I’m 24 years old and I can’t be in government, but I can in uniforms as well as people in civilian clothes or even do whatever I can to make Lukashenko go.” tracksuits carrying portable radio sets and video cam-

34 35 Ugis Libietis Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections eras were seen all around. Passers-by, who stopped for had to date her “old man” near the disco, but they were — Hello Ugis! Just a minute ago you wrote on From these conversations I concluded that there even a second, were asked a simple question: “Are you not allowed to enter. Twitter that you have been detained. Tell us how it hap- were around 40 detainees in each of the buses. There waiting for someone? If not, please move on and don’t pened. ZHUHSHRSOHLQRXUYDQSOXVVHFXULW\RI¿FHUV)URP disturb other pedestrians.” (end of the voice of a lady) — I was walking down the street with other par- time to time they jeered about the detainees, however With every moment the action grew bigger. The ticipants of the silent protests. The moment I stood their attitude was generally correct – everybody was silent and clapping crowd which moved forward very The crowd walked forward peacefully and silently, with other local and foreign journalists and tried to asked not to use mobile phones and not to cause prob- slowly was supported by local drivers, who beeped but from time to time the spetsnaz grabbed protesters take a photo of police pushing some people into the lems, because there would be just a straightforward their car horns. and took them to nearby buses. In contrast to last year’s bus, two people came up to me, grabbed my elbows check of personal documents. opposition crackdown on December 19th in the center and pushed me into another smaller minivan. Now I’m After arriving at the police station, journalists (horns in the background) of Minsk, no special detention cars were used. Some sitting here alone. There is another bus in front of our were partly separated from other detainees. If I remem- buses, minivans and Soviet-time UAZ jeeps with no car and there are also some detained people. Now I’m ber correctly, “our police” had succeeded in detain- As you can hear, the crowd continued walking number plates were used. These cars just stopped at the being told that I have to switch off the phone. Ok, I LQJSHRSOH7KHRI¿FLDOQXPEHUVVKRZWKDWGXULQJ without shouting out any slogans. The organizers of the side of the road and it was clear that they would not KDYHWR¿QLVK« that evening more than 150 people were detained all action asked everyone to step back from people who stay empty. together. I have to admit that also in the police station could start shouting slogans. Maybe the only exception The head of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, (phone beeps) the attitude towards the detainees was respectable and was a very energetic old lady. Oleg Gulak, to whom I was not able to speak much, ¿OOLQJRXWWKHSDSHUVWRRNQRORQJHUWKDQKDOIDQKRXU also expressed his incomprehension about the princi- At this point, our Volkswagen minivan started to Probably the spelling and writing of my name and sur- (the voice of an old lady) SOHVWKDWRI¿FHUVXVHGWRVHOHFWSHRSOHWRGHWDLQ ¿OOXS)LUVWZLWKWKUHHRUIRXU\RXQJPHQODWHURQZLWK QDPHZDVRQHRIWKHPRVWGLI¿FXOWWDVNVDQGWKDWFUH- The action was also followed by a few dozen local journalists - from and BELAPAN news ated some laughter among journalists, other detainees, After noticing my recorder, she could not stop tell- and foreign journalists, however it was not an obstacle agencies, and others. No force was used against me, and among the policemen themselves. ing me that today people are only thinking about cheap for police to use force against them as well. other colleagues were not so lucky. Unfortunately I have to say that while my recorder sausage. Well, sausage had I guess I was one of The only thing I managed to record secretly in the was being checked and the materials I had recorded become very expensive WKH ¿UVW MRXUQDOLVWV WR EH FDUZDVWKHSROLFHRI¿FHUVVSHDNLQJRQWKHUDGLR7KH\ during the day time were being listened to (even if this lately and nobody loves The silent and clapping crowd taken to an unmarked ve- discussed how many detained persons were in each of is not allowed by law), one of the commanding police Lukashenko anymore. which moved forward very slowly hicle. I was detained the the buses. RI¿FHUVPDQDJHGWRHUDVHVRPHRIWKHVRXQG¿OHVZKHUH Maybe with the exception moment I was within the I had been able to record the conversation of the police of Lukashenko youth*, the was supported by local drivers, group of press representa- (sound of police radio) RI¿FHUVLQVLGHWKHFDU spetsnaz**, KGB workers who beeped their car horns tives and, using my mobile and civil servants. Howev- phone, tried to take a pho- er, they are also waiting for to of people being pushed the fall of Lukashenko. And now they have organised a into a police bus. The reason for my detention was not discotheque on the square, but not everyone is allowed explained to me. As I was alone in the police van for to enter. Old people are not people. She joked that she some 15 minutes (not counting the driver), I had my only chance to contact my colleagues in .

* Lukashenko Youth, also known by the slang ‘Lukamol’, is an (live conversation with Latvian Radio) organization set up by the government which offers certain ben- H¿WVWR\RXQJSHRSOHLQUHWXUQIRUVXSSRUWWR/XNDVKHQNR ** Spetsnaz is a specially trained unit of the police force. -Yes?

36 37 Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections

James Kirchick (United States) is a writer and foreign correspondent based in Central Europe, and a contributing editor to The New Republic and World Affairs Journal.

Washington Post, 15th September, 2011 In Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko is Playing at Reform

The man known as Europe’s last dictator made a star- imposed sanctions on Belarus after December’s elector- tling announcement last week: Come early October, he DOIDUFH:LWKWKHFRXQWU\HQGXULQJDPDVVLYH¿QDQFLDO will release all of the political prisoners in his jails. For 17 crisis — consumer prices have almost doubled since years, Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus in much -DQXDU\DQGLQÀDWLRQLVQHDUSHUFHQW²/XNDVKHQNR the way that it was run as a desperately needs outside Soviet socialist republic. assistance, which the West Most of the economy With the country enduring has made contingent upon is state-owned, independ- DPDVVLYH¿QDQFLDOFULVLV political liberalization. Re- ent journalists are rou- leasing political prisoners, tinely harassed, opposi- Lukashenko desperately needs including detained presi- tion political activists are outside assistance dential candidate Andrei beaten and arrested, and Sannikov, is a tacit attempt the secret police — still to improve chilly relations known as the KGB — maintain a massive cadre of with Europe and the United States and should not be loyal informers. mistaken for genuine change within the regime. On the surface, Lukashenko shows signs of re- Consider Lukashenko’s history of such actions: form. He recently pardoned four political activists who $IWHUKHFORVHGWKH0LQVNRI¿FH RIWKH2UJDQL]DWLRQ were jailed as part of the crackdown that followed Be- for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2002, the larus’s rigged presidential election last winter. To avoid European Union and the United States imposed sanc- any appearance that their release was a concession to tions — and after six months, Lukashenko allowed the outside pressure, the regime announced that all four had multilateral organization back into the country. (He “recognized their guilt and the unlawful character of expelled it again after last December’s vote.) In 2007, their actions.” Such moves should be seen in the context of the  /LQNWR%%&ZHEVLWHµ%HODUXVFORVHVGRZQ26&(RI¿FHDIWHU cat-and-mouse game Lukashenko has long played with poll criticism’, December 31, 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ the West. The European Union and the United States world-europe-12100765

38 39 James Kirchick Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections in the aftermath of a rigged presidential election and should be given nothing in exchange for freeing people summer. Before the polls even closed last December, arrests of political prisoners, Washington froze assets who never should have been jailed. The West should Neklyayev had been badly beaten by plainclothes secu- RIWKHVWDWHRLOUH¿QLQJFRPSDQ\WZRPRQWKVODWHUWKH make clear that releasing political prisoners is the ULW\RI¿FHUV DQGLPSULVRQHGRQWUXPSHGXSFKDUJHVRI UHJLPHGLGWKH¿UVWLQDVHULHVRISULVRQHUUHOHDVHV$V RSHQLQJQRW¿QDOVWHSWRZDUGQRUPDOL]HGUHODWLRQV DWWHPSWLQJWRIRPHQWDULRW+HZDVUHOHDVHGDIWHU¿YH recently as last month, on the very day that the State Additional moves include readmitting the OSCE to months. But last week the regime imposed a nightly Department announced additional economic sanc- Minsk and allowing the return of the U.S. ambassador, curfew on him**, barred him from leaving the country tions* on four state-owned Belarusan enterprises, Lu- whom Luka shenko expelled in 2008****. Luka shenko’s for two years and will not allow him to leave Minsk kashenko pardoned nine people** who had been arrested behavior makes clear that sanctions are effective in without written permission. Western governments, for protesting last December. moderating the regime; they should be lifted only Neklyayev says, should stop allowing the dictator to Lukashenko essen- when genuinely free and “blackmail” them by perpetually incarcerating inno- tially operates a revolving fair elections are held in cent people. Rewarding Lukashenko at this early stage door to his KGB prisons, The West should make clear that Belarus. would amount to another round in the dictator’s never- jailing dissidents when releasing political prisoners is the %XW LW LV GLI¿FXOW WR ending game. they step too far out of line believe that Lukashenko and letting them go once RSHQLQJQRW¿QDOVWHSWRZDUG is serious about reform, Western sanctions become normalized relations given his record and what burdensome. Releasing po- I witnessed in Belarus in litical prisoners is a cheap, June: Political activists cynical move that Lukashenko uses to wend his way used the Internet to attract thousands of Belarusans back into the good graces of the West. Whether his po- from across the country to weekly demonstrations that litical opponents are free or incarcerated, he has always involved nothing more than clapping. At one such pro- maintained the architecture of authoritarian control. test I attended***** in Minsk, government thugs brutally What’s happening now, with Belarus facing its toughest assaulted citizens and piled them into waiting police economic conditions since its independence in 1991, is vans just minutes after they had gathered. A regime a particularly dramatic instance of brave individuals be- that arrests people for applauding in public is not one ing used as bargaining chips. that will submit to free elections easily. This time, the West should avoid falling for Lu- “There is no more possibility to haggle” with Lu- kashenko’s ploy. The European Union and the United kashenko, one of the leading opposition presidential States have long called for the “unconditional” release candidates, Vladimir Neklyayev, told me in Minsk this of political prisoners***. Accordingly, Lukashenko

calls for unconditional release of Byalatski and over forty other * Link to Washington Post: ‘Protestors clash with Belarus * Link to US State Department website, transcript of Political Prisoners. August 8, 2011. http://minsk.usembassy.gov/ police after presidential elections’. Yuras Karmanau. December sanctions announcement: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ toner_byalatski080811.html 20, 2012. dpb/2011/08/170420.htm#BELARUS **** Link to BBC website: ‘US ambassador to Belarus expelled’. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ ** Link to Radio Free Europe: ‘Belarusian President Par- March 7, 2008: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7283847.stm article/2010/12/19/AR2010121903963.html dons Nine Convicted for December Protests’ August 11, 2011: ***** Link to Radio Free Europe: ‘Reporter’s Notebook: In Minsk, ** Link to Radio Free Europe: ’Belarusian Politician Barred http://www.rferl.org/content/belarus_lukashenka_pardons_ Fighting Democracy With Disco’. June 29, 2011, James Kirchick. from Leaving Country’. September 9, 2011 http://www. protesters/24294260.html http://www.rferl.org/content/belarus_minsk_demonstration_ar- rferl.org/content/belarus_politician_barred_from_leaving_ *** Link to US embassy in Minsk website: Press release: USG rests_reporters_notebook/24250746.html country/24323311.html

40 41 Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections

Kiryl Kascian (Belarus) is a PhD candidate in Law at the University of Bremen, Germany

Belarusian Review, 1st October 2011 Assisting a Little-known Nation

“Without history, language, and art strongly linked with his apparently authoritarian ruling Without the wisdom of science practices. Hence, Belarus is largely known abroad for A nation will turn into a nameless land.” its current political situation and thus is labeled as “Eu- Marek Grechuta, Fatherland rope’s last dictatorship”, “European Burma” (T.Garton- Ash) or other similar names. Again, such recognisabil- After twenty years of independence, Belarus can ity brings nothing else but empathy toward the nation. hardly be characterized as a well-known country in the However, neither of these “brands” may really con- world. Indeed, many are aware that such a country ex- tribute to the in-depth recognisability of Belarus since ists, and many can name certain events, people or sport neither underlines the distinctiveness of Belarus and the teams that are associated in their minds with Belarus. elements of this distinctiveness – language, culture, his- Probably the most internationally known Belarusian tory. These “national” elements create a core for the na- “brands” are Chornobyl and Lukašenka. tion’s recognisability abroad that goes deeper than just The Chornobyl tragedy brings empathy toward the brief and often random fragments of knowledge that a Belarusian people from abroad but, after 25 years, it foreigner may possess about Belarus. is fading from the media But these “national” headlines. elements are virtually non- The second Belaru- Belarus remains an unknown existent in the western VLDQ ³EUDQG´ LV LWV ¿UVW neighbor and proper acquaintance discourse about Belarus. and still current president Hence, what kind of im- Aliaksandr Lukašenka with it has been postponed at least age can Belarus attain in who has ruled the coun- until the elimination of the political the eyes of an ordinary try for seventeen out of challenge European or American? the twenty years of mod- Just another post-Soviet ern Belarusian independ- country where everyone ence. Lukašenka, who is often called “Europe’s last speaks Russian, that heavily suffered from the Chor- dictator”, has brought the country quite dubious fame. nobyl disaster and that seriously suffers because of Beyond any doubt, he has contributed to the recognisa- the unwise ruling practices of its president Aliaksandr bility of Belarus in the world, but this recognisability is Lukašenka. It is normal for a person to see these two

42 43 Kiryl Kascian Red on White: Aftermath of the 2010 Presidential Elections handicaps combined and feel compassion for this poor largely supported by the rhetoric of certain politicians ratization in Belarus which has been put on the agenda chuta poetically calls them) to cherish, be proud of land. It is apparently believed that eliminating at least who ask Belarus to make a choice – to ally either with by the West is not connected with Belarusian national and to promote internationally. one of these challenges would ease the situation in the Russia or with the West. culture, language and heritage, but is rather based on Belarus has huge potential to offer the world country. Indeed, the stereotypical approach toward Bela- the indirect support of the already-settled stereotype of through its historical roots and should not be treated Hence, eliminating the consequences of the Chor- rus focuses on the special role that Russia can play Belarus as a denationalized nation with a language that just as a country to be pitied. This is not just another nobyl disaster and democratizing the country seem to be and its apparent influence on Belarus’ domestic and is all but extinct. Hence, by applying such a stereotypi- bunch of patriotic words but a quite conscious sug- VXI¿FLHQWWR³UHVWRUH´%HODUXVDVD³KDSS\QDWLRQ´+RZ- foreign policy as well as changes within Belarusian cal approach the West leaves Belarus alone vis-à-vis its gestion to concentrate upon this potential, in order to ever, this approach requires society. For instance, the existing countries, pushes Belarus even closer to Russia ¿QDOO\ GR DZD\ ZLWK WKH ³KLVWRULFDOO\ VHWWOHG´ VWHUH- neither a deeper acquaint- reintroduction of the and creates potential for ultimately increasing Russia’s otypes about Belarus. To this end, if the West learns ance with the Belarusian Belarus has huge potential to offer as the dominance in Belarus. WKHVH ³WKUHH ÀRZHUV´ RI %HODUXVLDQ LGHQWLW\ LW PLJKW “background, ” nor any- the world through its historical roots official language in Be- This article’s epigraph is by the famous get a clue about what Belarus really is. This knowledge thing in return. Hence, larus in 1995 led to dis- Polish singer and songwriter Marek Grechuta who ad- could lead to a change in tactics and strategies in west- this approach per se fails and should not be treated just crimination against the dressed it to his native Poland, the country with ap- ern policies toward Belarus and its society, treating it to obtain (if it at all needs) as a country to be pitied titular Belarusian lan- parently the strongest national feeling in the Central not as a nation for empathy but as a reliable and well- comprehensive knowledge guage not only within the and Eastern European region. However, these words known equal partner. Hence, the key of the Belarusian of Belarusian society, its country (closed schools, are equally relevant for Belarus – and its rich history, enigma is quite simple, but the question remains wheth- roots and contemporaneity. Thus, Belarus remains an classes, a decrease in the presence of the language ODQJXDJH DQG DUW DUH WKRVH ³WKUHH ÀRZHUV´ DV *UH- er the West is ready to settle it? unknown neighbor and proper acquaintance with it has in the country’s public life, etc.) but also internation- been postponed at least until the elimination of the po- ally. It is a quite frequent if not a general rule that the litical challenge, i.e. the current ruling regime. foreigners who deal with Belarus (with some ex- But does such an approach make sense? In other ceptions) disregard the and its words, how can Belarus be politically assisted in elimi- potential as a language for distributing information. nating its current ruling regime if the country remains un- They reason (or assume) that the Russian language known and is apparently treated as a denationalized his- is universally understandable in Belarus and is the torically contested area that has always been an object of main language of communication in the country. For politics, unable to create something valuable by itself? instance, German international broadcaster Deutsche It seems that the country is automatically allocated Welle uses Russian in its program about Belarus, but to the so-called “Russosphere” and apparently among has a special service for Ukraine in Ukrainian. Also, western analysts and politicians there is a belief that it is quite common that transliteration of Belarusian LW LV 0RVFRZ WKDW PD\ SRWHQWLDOO\ LQÀXHQFH RI¿FLDO personal and geographic names in the major inter- Minsk and take on the role of a mediator in the nego- national media appears from the Russian (for exam- tiations between the current Belarusian regime and the ple: instead of Hrodna or instead of West. Such an approach creates a trap for both sides. 0DKLOLRǎ  For the West, this trap is both strategic and tactical – Thus, this stereotypical approach of the West does it simply becomes unnecessarily additionally depend- not create any additional impetus for the development ent on Moscow, fails to do away with its settled stere- of the Belarusian language domestically or for the otypes about Belarus and still treats the country as an growth of the interest toward Belarusian culture, history object and not as a subject of politics. This approach is and language abroad. Instead, the issue of the democ-

44 45 Last working day of a market, forced to close down due to the economic crisis. Minsk, May, 2011 (Dmitry Brushko)

In the Grips of Economic Crisis As a result of the sharp devaluation of the Belarusian ruble, the average Belarusian salary more than halved. Between April and August, it was extremely hard to buy dollars or euro, many were unable to pay for rent, mort- gages, or education. Many companies went out of business, large-scale labour emigration. Empty shelves in shops, DQGPDVVK\VWHULDDVSHRSOHWULHGWREX\WKHFKHDSHVWSURGXFWV±PLONVXJDUDQGPHDW7KHVLWXDWLRQ¿QDOO\VWDEL- lized due to various deals with Russia. Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists In the Grips of Economic Crisis

Katarzyna Kwiatkowska (Poland) is a journalist specializing in Eastern European issues and a laureate of Amnesty International’s Pen of Hope award.

Polityka, 15th June 2011 photo: Maciej Jakobielski Black Days in Belaya Rus

This is the end of the country as we know it. The supplying its neighbour with oil and gas at a reduced land of Alexander Lukashenko is awaiting radical price, which Belarusian petrochemical companies were FKDQJHV$ WUDI¿F MDP LQ 0LQVN¶V FHQWUH$ PDQ DS- converting into petrol, then selling to Western consum- proaches one of the cars, knocks on the side window HUVDWDFRQVLGHUDEOHSUR¿W7KHYDOXHRI0RVFRZWHQ and says: “President Lukashenko has been kidnapped \HDU ¿QDQFLDO EDFNLQJ LQ D IRUP RI FXWUDWH UDZ PD- by terrorists for ransom. If they don’t get ten million terials amounts to 49 billion USD (in comparison, the dollars, they will douse him with petrol and set him Belarusian budget for 2011 – 15 billion USD). At the alight. Lend a helping hand, governor…” For a moment same time, goods produced in Belarus - tractors, com- the driver seems to consider, and then replies: “Well… bine harvesters, fridges, furniture, and also milk and 7KDW¶V¿YHOLWUHV,FDQFKLSLQ´ meat – have had their market in Russia. Political jokes like these are enjoying growing pop- Since 2008, this fertile source has been drying up. ularity, though nobody really feels like laughing. Bela- Belarus fell short of the Kremlin’s expectations due to rus, a country without worries, until quite recently, has not recognizing independence of Abkhazia and South just entered a period of huge economic turbulence. The Ossetia, two regions that separated from Georgia as a well-known ‘stability, Lukashenko-style’ is collapsing result of its August war with Russia. For months, Minsk in front of the more and more bewildered citizens. And was making empty promises to Moscow. Meanwhile, this is only the prelude to a colossal transformation /XNDVKHQNRZDVEXV\ÀLUWLQJZLWK(XURSH7KH,QWHU- which is to reshape the last dictatorship of Europe. national Monetary Fund has granted Belarus a credit of 3.5 billion USD, being given since 2008. The funds Batka is tumbling were to be spent on modernizing the outdated econo- my system; however, the authorities ate them up. They “It was supposed to be great,” disappointed Bela- used the last tranche of the loan, given in the middle of rusians sigh. Not so long ago, even ardent opponents of 2010, for pay rises (average wages increased from 370 Lukashenko could not negate the fact that he seemed USD to 500 USD), prepared for a period of presidential to possess a political instinct. His skilful manoeuvring elections in December. In November, the foreign min- around Moscow and Brussels was guaranteeing the citi- isters of Poland and Germany promised another loan of zens rather average, albeit stable, living conditions. The 3 billion EUR, but with conditions: Lukashenko was main sponsor of the country’s economy was Russia, to stick to democratic rules. The Belarusian president

48 49 Katarzyna Kwiatkowska In the Grips of Economic Crisis assured them of his concern for international respect. The energy-intensive industry for years has been pro- salt – products one can stock up. Endless queues of cars tion fund, but on its own conditions. Russian minister “These elections will be much better, because you want ducing beyond measure. Storehouses have been full formed in front of petrol stations. RI¿QDQFH$OH[HL.XGULQVDLGWKDWLQH[FKDQJH%HODUXV them to be,” he promised. of unnecessary goods. The factory parking lots could This nervous reaction generated a further destabi- must adopt a three-year plan of privatization. In Minsk, In time, it occurred how ironic these words had not house the tractors, and there were enough watch- lizing process on the market. Citizens did not believe speculations are rife which pearls within the country’s been. After 19th December, hundreds of people who es, produced under the Luch label, for all Minsk adult Lukashenko, who was assuring that there was no need industrial sector will fall into the hands of Russian busi- came to post-election rallies in Minsk were arrested. citizens, who, anyway, prefer Chinese products. In de- to panic. nessmen. The trials of ‘mass protests’ organizers’ have been pro- ¿DQFHRIORJLFWKHDXWKRULWLHVZHUHPLVVSHQGLQJELO- Although the real exchange rate dropped twice as Kudrin’s announcement induced nervous reactions ceeding for the last half a year. The rival candidates of lions of roubles. The effects occurred quickly. At the PXFKDVWKHRI¿FLDORQHDXWKRULWLHVZHUHSRVWSRQLQJ in Belarus’ capital. Sovetskaya Belorussiya Belarus Lukashenko – Andrei Sannikau, Mikalai Statkievich beginning of this year, the level of monetary reserves devaluation for fear of social effects: decline of citi- Segodnya, a regime daily, compared actions of the min- and Dmitry Uss – have received the heaviest sentences IHOOVLJQL¿FDQWO\ zens’ real income and rise ister to those of the hero (5 to 6 years of imprisonment). LQ LQÀDWLRQ  7KXV DIWHU from the “Pirates of the The Belarusian authorities’ brutal reactions with- They paid for the loans the central bank had re- 8QSUR¿WDEOHVWDWHIDUPVDUHWKHEDOO Caribbean,” who highly RXWSROLWLFDOMXVWL¿FDWLRQ WKHGLYLGHGRSSRVLWLRQZDVRI duced the rouble value by valued methods such as no threat to the regime) triggered a wave of criticism In 2011, Belarusians’ world collapsed. The crisis 56% in relation to foreign and chain of the country’s economy using sabres and board- against Lukashenko from the West. Any attempt to Eu- was unavoidable – Lukashenko had been working hard currency, no apparent im- ing attacks. Lukashenko ropeanize ‘Batska’* was out of the question. for this effect, ignoring all alarm signals. The econo- provement took place – the is aware that the privatiza- The command-and- mists were warning: the dollar rate on the black market is still lower than the tion process and, related to it, the restructurization of quota economic model election pork barrel would RI¿FLDORQH7KHDYHUDJHVDODU\IHOOWRFD86' companies, is going to lead to profound political con- adapted in Belarus is cost- The command-and-quota economic damage the budget and cit- In practice, everything went up: petrol by 20%, sequences. Perhaps not high, but stable, wages and low ly and requires regular model adapted in Belarus izens would pay dearly for food by 100%. “I’ve paid 23,000 roubles, that is almost (ca. 1%) unemployment were the pillars of the Belaru- money injections, a situ- increased wages. 5 dollars, for a chicken breast,” complains a citizen of sian welfare state. ation Russia effectively is costly and requires regular A deep currency cri- . Only vodka remains cheap. In April, 600,000 persons (almost 13% of the exploits. The Kremlin money injections sis has erupted. In March, $VDUXOHGHYDOXDWLRQEULQJVLQSUR¿WVWRDFRXQWU\ workforce) have become ‘temporarily unemployed.’ In was delaying its prom- the value of a Belarusian because it helps in stabilizing the currency and elimi- retaliation, independent trade unions have announced ised loans, thus pushing rouble started to fall and QDWLQJWUDGHGH¿FLW1HYHUWKHOHVVH[SHUWVFODLPXQDQL- nationwide protests. Even the ever faithful to the gov- the neighbouring country further into destabilization. FLWL]HQVKHDGHGWRZDUGVH[FKDQJHRI¿FHVJXDUGHGE\ mously that without fundamental economic reforms, ernment Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus de- Lukashenko, after getting in Europe’s bad books, had PLOLWLDIRUIRUHLJQFXUUHQF\GLGQRWVXI¿FHIRUHYHU\- diminishing the value of a rouble resembles curing can- mands taking all necessary steps immediately, restoring no one to turn to for help with paying interest on the body. Similar events occurred in Poland in the early cer with painkillers. workplaces and adequate incomes. But how? existing loans. ’90s. While the zloty was weakening day by day, dol- 8QSUR¿WDEOHVWDWHIDUPVDUHWKHEDOODQGFKDLQRI In the meantime, the world demand for Belaru- lars seemed to be the only safe investment. Belarusians, Russian rules the country’s economy. The authorities have conceded sian products declined, which the local economy, de- just as Poles two decades ago, are trying to convert their that the whole debt of collective farms amounts to 13 pendent upon export, suffered accordingly. Despite rouble savings into hard currency. Economists estimate that in order to stabilize the ELOOLRQ86'

50 51 Katarzyna Kwiatkowska In the Grips of Economic Crisis unable to take up employment anywhere else, live at VRFLDOFRQWUDFWIRU/XNDVKHQNR¶VLURQ¿VWSROLF\±HFR- 0LFKDá3RWRFNL (Poland) writes for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna state’s expense. nomic stability and sense of security – went down. (a Polish daily) on political and economic issues in CIS countries. ‘The regime is seeking how to end this stalemate,’ Time acceleration VDLGSROLWLFDOH[SHUW3DZHá8VDXµ+RZHYHUDQDWWHPSW to rescue the old economic system will lead to a total ‘Black Monday’ – this is how Belarusians call 11th collapse.’ According to Belarusian analysts, the govern- th April 2011, when an explosion in the Minsk under- ment has two ways out. Hence, both result in changes. Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, 29 May 2011 ground belied the conviction that the terrorism threat 7KH ¿UVW RQH PHDQV UHIRUPV XQGHU WKH JXLGDQFH does not concern Belarus. Although the authorities of the Kremlin. Agreeing to Russia’s loan conditions caught the juvenile perpetrators admirably fast*, the is ensued by giving up the centralized economy. Major Lukashenka’s Regime in Utter Ruins, Belarus citizens are asking, expressing anxiety: “What if the political shifts would follow. ‘Moscow will make all de- government wanted this to distract our attention from cisions and Lukashenko without a controlled economy Clutched by Crisis WKHHFRQRPLFFULVLV"´±SXEOLFFRQ¿GHQFHLQVWDWHLQVWL- is like a wolf without its teeth,’ claims Usau. ‘No matter Belarus has found itself in a state of depression al Investment Agency, in a Dziennik Gazeta Prawna* tutions has declined. whether he stays or goes, either way real power belongs similar to the one which was experienced by the USSR interview. Belarus also managed to impress the World The day when the value of Belarusian rouble dras- to Russia. Then, don’t count on democratization. Per- just after its collapse. The situation is further compli- Bank itself. After just two years of reforms it climbed tically fell was named ‘Black Tuesday.’ Citizens have haps the media would gain more freedom, at least, the cated due to the government control over the economy, from 115 to 58 in the Doing Business ranking, over- started to count how much they have lost so far this print media, and small and medium enterprises would the favourite method in the president’s repertoire. taking Poland. Minsk remained an economic green is- year. They want to know who is responsible for this sit- enjoy more institutional facilitations, today hindered by Belarus’ economic golden age ended along with land even in 2009, noting a 0.2% increase in GDP. The uation and what happens next. Meanwhile, the regime high taxes.’ the devaluation of the rouble and the implosion of the next ranking advances were thought to be just a mat- television provides cursory information on the crisis: Another scenario: preserving the status quo at all FXUUHQF\UHVHUYHV$O\DNVDQGDU/XNDVKHQNDKDV¿QDOO\ ter of time. Even more so after the 2010 elections that, on the day when rouble devaluation started, the news cost. Maintaining the existing model will lead to a total SURYHQWKDWKHLVFOHDUO\XQ¿WWRUXOHDFRXQWU\0DQ\ despite the violent repressions of protest movements, services supplied coverage of Lukashenko’s visit to Ka- ¿QDQFLDOFROODSVH7KHJUDGXDOO\LPSRYHULVKHG%HODUX- faulty decisions led to the point of no return and now reinforced the reform wing of the government. ]DNKVWDQVSRUWLQJVXFFHVVHV¿UHVLQ5XVVLDDWRUQDGR sian might then lose patience and take the law into their the country is forced to choose between the bad and Deputy prime minister Uladzimyer Syamashka, in the US. Somewhere there, in this information deluge, hands. At present, there is no political circle able to use the worse. Just over a year ago, there was nothing that the man behind the country’s energy policies, and the was a short mention of the decision made by the central society’s discontent in a constructive way. However, would suggest such a course of events would unfold. head of the presidential administration, Uladzimyer bank. the appearance of such a force, since the situation is de- Between 2008 and 2009 Minsk introduced several lib- 0DN\H\ZHUHMRLQHGE\QHZ¿JXUHV5HVXUUHFWHGIURP The regime, wanting to hold power over the turn of teriorating, is only a question of time. Still, this is less eral reforms, aimed to support investors. Five turnover the political void, Mikhail Myas’nikovich, an economic events, is currently tightening the screws. The opposi- probable, for revolution does not suit Russia, which taxes were taken down, the registration process for progress scientist, became the prime minister. The am- tion has been decimated, its leaders are in prisons, have prefers changes happening under its control. QHZFRPSDQLHVZDVVKRUWHQHGWRDGD\DQGDÀDW bassador to China, Anatol’ Tozik was recalled to Belarus emigrated or compromised themselves through self- At least one thing is certain – Belarus, a country tax rate was introduced for businesses. after becoming familiar with the local non-democratic criticism. Lukashenko proudly announced that all is as ZKHUH WLPH KDV EHHQ ÀRZLQJ PRUH VORZO\ WKDQ DQ\- version of capitalism and was supposed to apply it in usual, yet one can see changes with the naked eyes. In a where in Europe, is right now passing away and be- The outlook was pretty good the country from the position of deputy prime minister. relatively short time, the pillars supporting an informal coming history. “Unfortunately, our government has come to the The government began the search for investors. conclusion that the people were driven to the streets as * Human rights experts widely voiced their concerns over “We are following a mixture of the Polish model, aimed a result of not only political, but also economic liberali- the trial which failed to meet international fair trial standards. Less than six months after the trial, Uladzislau Kavalyou and at changes in the economic law, and the Turkish one, sation. Therefore the decision was made to abandon a Dzmitry Kanavalau were executed. Their families were only later with its potential investors, selection process, and bilat- informed of their deaths. [SBIO] eral talks”, said Viktar Kavalyenka, head of the Nation- * Later referred to as ‘DGP’

52 53 0LFKDá3RWRFNL In the Grips of Economic Crisis path compliant with the IMF expectations and to tighten QRZD\UHÀHFWHGWKHUHDOSHUIRUPDQFHRIWKH%HODUXVLDQ bank, there shall be no devaluation”, added Pyotar to the independent web media. Later the news also the screws”, says Alyes’ Alyakhnovich, an economist economy, but Lukashenka got what he wanted: in De- Prakapovich in October 2010. reached the old people”, says Valyeryya, a 23-year- from CASE Belarus. cember the average wage was over 1.5m roubles, which However, the situation quickly slipped out of con- old citizen of Minsk. And those new solutions were supposed to modern- equalled exactly 532 dollars. trol. What helped was the fact that the pre-election When the exchanges had run dry of dollars, peo- ise the country, with the relative well-being of the Bela- Those raises were paid for – directly and indirectly social spending, not uncommon in the post-Soviet ple started to take credits and buy consumer goods: rus citizens intact. “Our economy has very long-range – by businesses. In August 2010 the government raised FRXQWULHVZDVDPSOL¿HGE\WKHJUDGXDOZLWKGUDZDORI RTV equipment, sugar, cigarettes, creating another goals. We don’t have any their electricity payments Russia’s support of the Belarusian economy. Moscow VWURQJLQÀDWLRQVWLPXOXVDIWHUWKHZDJHUDLVHV7KHSULF- IRUHLJQ GHEW RXU LQÀDWLRQ by 21%, along with a 13% has once again raised the resource pricing, which made HVRIEDVLFDUWLFOHVZHUHLQÀXHQFHGPRVWZLWKSRWDWRHV is low and our people tend “Our economy has very long-range increase in gas bills. The the January imports value grow by 36%. rising by 80% and homegrown radishes becoming more to work hard”, said Lu- goals. We don’t have any foreign government printed more “This is a structural problem, with its roots go- expensive than African coconuts. kashenka in an interview currency. There was also ing back to 2007 and the worsening of relations with Finally, on May 24, the authorities announced their with the German news- GHEWRXULQÀDWLRQLVORZDQGRXU pressure to raise workers’ Russia, which in turn led to gradual rises. As a result, decision to introduce a 54% devaluation of the rouble, paper ‘Die Welt’ in 2007. people tend to work hard” wages. In October 2010 the Minsk now pays more for which would approximate Four years later, none of deputy mayor of Minsk, importing oil, so after re- WKH RI¿FLDO H[FKDQJH UDWH the presidential claims, Hanna Matsyel’skaya, sent ¿QLQJSURFHVVLWVHOOVLWWR While the average Belarusian still (4,900 roubles for a dollar) maybe excluding the diligence of Belarusian citizens, RI¿FLDOQRWL¿FDWLRQVWRSULYDWHEXVLQHVVPHQGHPDQG- the West also at steadily to the black market one remains true. ing to ‘secure wages at the level of 500 dollars or the rising prices. This is how earns 1.5m roubles, today this is (over 6,000). The high- The story behind the roots of Belarus’ problems HTXLYDOHQW¶2WKHUZLVH±WKLVWLPHXQRI¿FLDOO\±DQLQ- the economy loses its com- worth no more than 300 dollars est devaluation of last 20 WRGD\VRXQGVOLNHDEXWWHUÀ\HIIHFWDQHFGRWHLQZKLFK spection could be expected, which, in Belarusian con- petitiveness and the exports years was not very fruitful. WKH ÀDSSLQJ RI D EXWWHUÀ\¶V ZLQJV LQ &DQDGD VSULQJV ditions, may well lead to a business being closed. begin to drop”, says Alyes’ Despite the fact that peo- up twisters in Texas. In 2006, before the previous elec- Alyakhnovich. ple had lost over half of their dollar funds, the exchange tions, during the 4th All-Belarus People’s Assembly, Citizens do not buy the promises 7KH WUDGH GH¿FLW ZDV JURZLQJ ZKLFK OHG WR WKH situation did not normalize. On Wednesday, Nasha that is, the body behind the creation of the new 5-year draining of the currency reserves, additionally weak- Niva* claimed that the community list in Belarusbank plans, it was promised that Belarusian earnings would Belarusians have spent their raises on their own in- ened by the frantic selling of roubles by common citi- at Minsk railway station still contains 710 names. The reach 500 dollars in 2011. vestments, predicting that such a situation may not last for ]HQV'XULQJWKH¿UVWTXDUWHURIWKH\HDUUHVHUYHOHYHOV limit for a single person is one thousand dollars, but The promise has been made, but wages have been long. They started investing in the dollar, euro and gold. dropped by a quarter. Not even emitting 800m Eu- during the whole day only three people came to sell rising slowly for a long time and in the year before the Used cars became popular, as 1st June 2011 will most like- robonds helped. hard currency. In one of the Minsk exchanges on Yes- elections they barely reached the level of 1.1m roubles ly bring a multiple raise in the customs rate for western “The authorities led to this panic. When foreign enin Street, people were buying dollars they had signed – around 384 dollars. The problem reared its head again cars, as a result of a Customs Union of Belarus, Russia economists claimed early in the year that the 20% de- up for before Easter. Even various queue businesses in 2010. It could not happen that the key presidential and . The sooner, the better – rumours about a valuation of the rouble would be just enough, the sprouted, in the form of babushkas selling homemade SURPLVHZRXOGUHPDLQXQIXO¿OOHG,WZDVQRWORQJEH- currency devaluation started back in the autumn. possibility of such a move was denied. And the more pies to those waiting. fore the results could be observed, even in today’s of- Of course, the authorities have denied all of this. often it was denied, the less people would believe in Nobody is thinking about 500 dollar wages now. ¿FLDOVWDWLVWLFV,QWKHDYHUDJHZDJHJUHZLQUHDO The bank representatives assured DGP in August such claims”, remarks Alyakhnovich. In March, when While the average Belarusian still earns 1.5m roubles, terms by 0.1% and retirement payments by 0.2%, which 2010 that the export, which covers 70% of Belaru- the devaluation seemed to be just a matter of time, today this is worth no more than 300 dollars. Maybe equals the general economic growth. In 2010, the year sian GDP, has bounced back from the collapse and Belarusians collectively bought about 768m dollars. even less, as the black market course of the rouble is of elections, growth equalled respectively 14.9% and another (the first one was introduced in 2009, sav- “Luckily I managed to buy dollars before the wave even 23.9%, with GDP rising by 7.6%. The minimum ing the economic growth) devaluation is not deemed RIK\VWHULD7KH¿UVWSHRSOHDWH[FKDQJHVZHUH\RXQJ * An independent Belarusian daily newspaper with a strong wage also rose by half. Of course, this rise in wages in necessary. “As long as I am the head of the central people, who found out about the situation thanks online presence

54 55 0LFKDá3RWRFNL In the Grips of Economic Crisis still plummeting. That is why foreign bills remain a real ter Myas’nikovich and his deputies, further controls directors of the companies that were preparing for the to be impervious to this drama. The day after announc- treasure for Belarusian citizens. Even some crisis-time and regulations were introduced. Militia and control- privatization of their assets. Nobody wants Russians to ing the devaluation, the presidential paper Belarus Se- humour appeared, such as: What are the three degrees lers visit the workplaces, checking on employees, their perform this process. godnya, instead of addressing the issues, stamped the RIWKH%HODUXVLDQSRYHUW\"7KH¿UVW\RXKDYHQRPRQ- punctuality and general tidiness of their surroundings However, an immediate crash will leave the no- title ‘New Perspectives Arise’ on the front page. ey. The second, when there really is no money. And the and lockers. In case of irregularities, you are in for a menklatura with nothing to enfranchise. There are black The article was actually about the president’s visit third, when you have to sell your dollars. ¿QH,Q5HFK\WVD PLOLWLDFRQWUROOHGSHRSOHLQDJUR- clouds gathering over the president, if you also mention to Kazakhstan. cery store in the middle of the day. the discontent in the army. “Ah, to visit this Belarus that they show on TV!”, Return of Andropovshchina Local entrepreneur Alyeh Shabyetnik told Nasha And only the national propaganda machine seems exclaims the old lady from a popular anecdote. Niva: ‘The militiamen shut the door, and took info from The crisis triggered a shift among Lukashenka’s ad- everyone inside. They asked everybody if they were visor entourage. When endangered, the president prefers employed. Finally Lukashenka announced on TV that to implement methods taken straight from his kolkhoz* independent of the popularity of such methods, they management experiences. The manual control, never ful- will keep an eye on people’s whereabouts’. ly abandoned, now returns in full glory. The government Such undertakings are not nearly enough to be a reformers have lost their ability to contact the president, remedy. 52% of public debt is not going to pay itself, and or they are simply ignored by him and his administration. its management enforces other credits – and fast, because This regress takes the country back to the era of Yuri An- most of the debts reach their maturity dates between 2012 dropov and early Mikhail Gorbachev. The former had an and 2014. After December 19 a loan from the west seems idea in 1984 that hard work is all it takes to come out of to be out of the question (however the authorities intend Brezhnev’s economic stagnation. And the way to ensure to trade political prisoners). The only possibility is Rus- diligence is an extended system of control and freeloader sia – and it did provide a credit, with conditions including hunting. Gorbachev initially followed this notion, calling VHOOLQJWKHPRVWSUR¿WDEOHFKXQNVRIQDWLRQDOUHVRXUFHV it uskorenie (Russian for ‘speeding up’). Beltransgaz, a transportation company, MAZ, a recog- The Andropovshchina duo began with an attempt nized producer of tractors among developing countries, to control and manage the currency market. The au- %HODUXVNDOLDSRWDVVLXPSRWHQWDWHDQGERWKUH¿QHULHV thorities forbade importers from buying currency in This time, however, the sovereignty of Belarus is at amounts higher than 50,000 euro. Any forex transac- stake. Lukashenka has found himself between Scylla of tions had to be followed by a 30-day notice. And last, selling out Belarusian national resources and Charybdis but not least, the exporters were instructed to sell a RIDQLPPHGLDWHFUDVK:KLOHWKH¿UVWRQHPD\EULQJ SRUWLRQRIFXUUHQF\HDUQHGLQIRUHLJQWUDGHE\DQRI¿- relief, it will be only a short one, if decisive reforms cial exchange rate, which at one point was half as high do not follow. In such a case, however, Minsk will lose as the actual one. On the other hand, there was a battle its ability to independently shape its own economic WR UHVWRUHWKHHI¿FLHQF\DQGHDUQLQJVRIFRPSDQLHV policies. Simultaneously Batka*** will encounter outrage severely damaged due to the energy costs increases. IURP WKH LQÀXHQWLDO WHFKQRFUDWLF IDFWLRQ ± LQFOXGLQJ Still, instead of simply extending the range of the free market, as should have been advised by prime minis- ** A small town in the Gomel region. [ed. SBIO] *** ‘Father’, in Belarusian. A term which is often used to refer * Kolkhoz - A collective farm. Lukashenka worked in the collec- to Lukashenka, and by which Lukashenko refers to himself [ed. tive farm system from 1982-1990. [ed. SBIO] SBIO]

56 57 Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists In the Grips of Economic Crisis

Gesine Dornblueth (Germany) is an editor, political correspondent, and commentator on socio-legal issues for Deutschland Radio.

Deutschland Radio Kultur, 1st November 2011 Is the end of Lukashenka’s regime coming soon? As prices go up; the resentment of the people Salesman: grows. In more and more Belarusian cities, people “The people are poor. The prices went up but not are protesting against the authoritarian regime; but the wages. And thus purchasing power shrinks. Take President Alexander Lukashenka wants to ride out for example dried apricots: a year ago, I sold a kilo for the crisis. 9,800 roubles. Now, I have to take 55,000. Or raisins: Sound: now, a kilo costs 35,000 roubles; a year ago, it was A market stall with dried fruit 11,000. Prices have tripled.” Author: Sound: A market in Belarus’s capital Minsk; crowded to- Squeaking of a trolley. Voices. gether under a ribbed roof, there are market stalls with Author: trousers, bras, shoes, woolen pullovers. Some of the Like many people under the authoritarian regime, clothes are from Turkey, the cheaper ones from Belarus. the salesman is afraid of telling his name. He is about The fabrics are rough. They look shabby. The salesmen forty years old and stands here everyday. are standing around bored. At the edge of the market, Salesman: there are groceries. An old man is looking at a market ³, KDYH DQ LQFRPH EXW LW LV GLI¿FXOW %HIRUH WKH stall with dried fruit and nuts. He is studying the prices, crisis, I earned more. Dried fruit and nuts – these are kneading a 20,000 rouble bill, thinking. 20,000 roubles not basic foods like bread or milk or vodka; this is why are equivalent to two Euros. many people deny themselves these things. If Lukash- Sound: enka resigns it will be a celebration for me.” “Slushayu Vas – Mne slivy...*” Author: Author: Belarus faces national bankruptcy. Since the be- Eventually, he decides to take dried plums: three ginning of the year, the currency has devalued more hundred grams for 13,000 roubles. The salesman is WKDQ,QÀDWLRQLVLQFUHDVLQJ$IHZPHWHUVRIID packing the fruit into a plastic bag. woman sells honey. Woman: * “What would you like – Some plums please…” [ed. SBIO] “The mood of the people is plummeting further. In

58 59 Gesine Dornblueth In the Grips of Economic Crisis the past, pensioners who came to my market stall praised as though nothing had happened. However, Belarus had Chinese instead of Russian investors to the country. In September. They demand that Lukashenka releases all the president for paying their pensions on time. Now, to face the consequences of the global crisis, too. 0LQVNIRUH[DPSOHWKH&KLQHVHDUHEXLOGLQJD¿YHVWDU political prisoners. Vladimir Skvortsov runs the ana- everyone says it is getting even worse. Anyway, I don’t The country exports tractors and potash fertiliz- hotel called “Beijing”. Matskevich from “Eurobelarus” lytical department in Belarus’s Ministry of Foreign Af- think it can get worse. It is already bad enough. We only ers. Due to the crisis, the demand for these products de- thinks that Lukashenka wants to stay independent from fairs. Visibly under pressure, he struggles to defend the cope because we work a creased. Belarus ran short Russia at any cost. politics of his government. lot. When the crisis began, of money. It would have Uladzimir Matskevich: Vladimir Skvortsov: we multiplied our colonies Since the beginning of the year, been all the more urgent for “For a long time, Lukashenka dreamt of moving “What is understood to be a political prisoner is a of bees. If I had continued Lukashenka to sell parts of into the Kremlin as leader of a new state union. He matter of terminology. Here, the people who took part to work in the kindergarten, the currency has devalued the state-owned companies. thought it was his mission to establish some kind of in, let’s say, these conditions, in these protests and so we would have been in debt more than 65% The philosopher Uladzimir Soviet Union again. Now, Putin has discovered this on which were in fact illegal - and which were quite already.” Matskevich runs the in- mission for himself. There is no place for Lukashenka spontaneous - even if there was some kind of prepara- Author: ternational consortium anymore. Therefore, he doesn’t have any interest in a tion work; this is why we don’t consider them to be The woman quit her job because she could earn “Eurobelarus”, a think-tank which conducts politi- political union anymore; he is afraid of Russia’s ability political prisoners.” more money with beekeeping. Her husband is already cal and economic analysis. Matskevich says that no- WRLQÀXHQFH%HODUXV¶VPDUNHWEHFDXVHKHGRHVQ¶WZDQW Author: retired. He served in the army and is getting a quite body knows how bad the economic situation really is. to lose control over Belarus’s economy.” At the same time, Skvortsov indicates readiness to high pension; but more than half of it is spent on the Uladzimir Matskevich: Author: talk. DSDUWPHQW2QWRSRIWKLVWKH\DUHDOVR¿QDQFLQJWKH “Unfortunately, independent experts have no ac- To stand up to Russia, Lukashenka needs support Vladimir Skvortsov: education of their two children. cess to recent statistics. Because our country doesn’t of the European Union. In 2009, the EU facilitated a “In any case, this should not hinder us from co- Woman: have private, publicly traded, companies, we also don’t credit of over 3.5 billion US-Dollars by the Internation- operating and making contact; and if we are seen as a “At the election last December, Lukashenka prom- have indicators such as stock market prices. The situa- al Monetary Fund. Prior to that, there had been a slight partner we are, of course, willing to talk about several ised to raise all wages. Immediately, my husband got a tion is tense. This summer, the state didn’t even have political liberalization in Belarus. Back then, the EU problematic issues.” decent addition to his pension; but only once. The next enough money to maintain the current businesses. In held out the prospect of another three billion dollars for Author: month, the addition was cancelled again.” the beginning of the year, Belarus still needed 2 to 3 2011. The condition was that Lukashenka would allow Obviously, Lukashenka tries to drive up the price Author: billion Euros to stabilize the economy; today, it needs democratic elections. That didn’t happen. The outcome for the release of his political opponents. The woman says that each month, they have be- 9 to 10 billion. Quite possibly, it will be 15 to 20 billion of 2010’s presidential elec- Author: tween three and four million roubles at their disposal. next year, let it be understood, only to stabilize the situ- tion in December was ma- Aliaksandr Atrosh- Woman: ation. To stimulate the economy, we would need even nipulated. Subsequently, chankau is one of the pris- “Millions, that sounds fantastic; but the millions more money.” hundreds of supporters of The KGB told me directly: you are oners who was released fade away.” Author: the opposition were arrest- living goods; you are our hostage; from detention recently. Author: The big question is where will the money come ed and dozens were sen- we will exchange you for The 30-year-old man lives The crisis is the consequence of Belarus living be- from? Russia is willing to deliver cheap oil and gas to tenced to several years of investments and credits in a high-rise estate in yond its means for years. President Alexander Lukash- Belarus, but only if Belarus sells its pipelines to Rus- detention. To date, two of Minsk, not far from the enka has been in power since 1994 and rules in a So- sia’s state controlled Gasprom in return. This summer, the presidential candidates city centre. In front of the viet manner. He takes no stock in free market economy. Russia, together with four former Central Asian Soviet are imprisoned. EXLOGLQJV WKHUH DUH EULJKW ÀRZHUV LQ DXWXPQ FRORXUV Therefore, most large-scale enterprises are still state- Republics, approved a two billion Euro credit to Be- As long as Lukashenka doesn’t ease his regime, blue, yellow, purple. During the 2010 election, Aliak- RZQHG:KHQWKHHFRQRPLFDQG¿QDQFLDOFULVLVHVFDODW- larus; but also for that, Russia demands that Belarus he can’t expect any money from the EU. The state and sandr Atroshchankau was the press speaker for Andrei ed in 2008 and companies worldwide laid off an enor- sells state-owned companies by preference to Russian JRYHUQPHQWRI¿FLDOVRIWKH(8PDGHWKDWFOHDUDWWKHLU Sannikau, a presidential candidate of the opposition. mous amount of the workforce, Lukashenka continued companies. Recently, however, Lukashenka admitted Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw at the end of One day after the election, Atroshchankau was arrested

60 61 Gesine Dornblueth In the Grips of Economic Crisis and sentenced to four years of detention. After nine Author: Author: Irina Yaskevich: months he was released. $WOHDVWSDUWLDOO\WKLVKRSHVHHPVMXVWL¿HG Some of the organizers of the people’s assembly “Our representatives have to come down to earth Aliaksandr Atroshchankau: Sound: on October 8th were subsequently sentenced to several and look, how the people live who voted for them. They “Belarus is a strange country. The KGB told me People shouting “Zhivie Belarus”*. days of detention or penalties. Regardless of that, the have to meet with their voters regularly so that people directly: you are living goods; you are our hostage; we Author: next people’s assemblies are about to take place eve- don’t lose the last bit of hope which they still have: The will exchange you for investments and credits. Several Vitsebsk, October 8th: it’s a three-hour drive from rywhere in the country on November 12th. For Irina hope for compromise and dialogue.” times the Western world has walked right into this trap: the capital. The city is east of Minsk, close to the bor- Yaskevich, it is not about overthrowing the govern- Author: Lukashenka releases some of his political prisoners, der to Russia. Approximately 300,000 people live here. ment; yet she complains about the aloofness of the poli- Meanwhile, Lukashenka simply ignores the crisis. In JHWVPRQH\IRUWKDWDQGDVVRRQDVWKLVPRQH\LV¿Q- About a hundred people have gathered to hold a peo- ticians. In her opinion, they don’t care a bit about their the beginning of October, he told the people that at the end ished he takes other political prisoners.” ple’s assembly. They demand higher wages, an end to voters and their constituencies. of the year, nobody would talk about the crisis anymore. Author: LQÀDWLRQMREVDQGWKHUHOHDVHRISROLWLFDOSULVRQHUV,W His wife Darya is taking his hand. She works for a LVWKH¿UVWWLPHIRUPRQWKVWKDWGLVVDWLV¿HGFLWL]HQVKDYH human rights organization and worked months towards gathered in Vitsebsk. Dozens of employees of the Secret the release of Atroshchankau. She remembers the days Service have surrounded the peaceful gathering; they are of the mass arrests. ¿OPLQJ WKHSHRSOH$SURPLQHQWSDUWLFLSDQWLVDUUHVWHG Darya Korsak: ZKLOHOHDYLQJVXSSRVHGO\IRUYLRODWLQJWUDI¿FUHJXOD- ³0DQ\SHRSOHFDPHWRWKHRI¿FHRIRXURUJDQL]D- tions. Similar gatherings are taking place in 25 other cit- tion and brought money, toothbrushes, groceries, and ies, also in Minsk, on this day. In total, several thousands drinking water for the prisoners. When I was buy- are taking to the streets. ing warm clothes for my husband, the salesmen al- Sounds in the kitchen. lowed discounts when they found out that the things Author: were intended for a political prisoner. Some of them Irina Yaskevich has organized the assembly in Vit- even gave me things for free.” sebsk. Now she is standing in the kitchen making salami Author: sandwiches. Pots and pans are piled up on the kitchen It seems that the bigger the social need, the strong- stove. Next to it, there are preserving jars and bags for er the solidarity with the political prisoners and the breads; Irina Yaskevich doesn’t have time to clean up. courage to protest. In summer, thousands of people via She runs a small tailor shop. Already for three years, she internet arranged to meet for a silent protest. has been trying to establish a union for sole traders. For Darya Korsak: three years, this has been denied for spurious reasons. “The actions this summer have shown that pro- Irina Yaskevich: test is no longer limited to political opposition. Peo- “We are former medics, production managers, tai- ple who would never have taken to the streets be- lors. We all became unemployed in the 90s. Back then, fore, took part in the silent protests: young factory we were allowed to earn our living ourselves. In recent employees, pensioners, handicapped people, and or- years, many of us have downsized our companies; and dinary people. They did not only protest in Minsk about one third have shut down their businesses; all be- but in many cities; even in cities in which actions cause of the crisis.” had never taken place before. That gives me great hope.” * “Long live Belarus” in Belarusian [ed. SBIO]

62 63 First performance in Belarus of Eve Ensler’s “Vagina Monologues” held in premises belonging to Svabodny Teatr (Belarus Free Theatre). Performed in Grodno and in Minsk. Minsk, February 2012 (Julia Darashkevich)

Belarusian Dreams in Independent Culture ,Q%HODUXVWRGD\RI¿FLDOFXOWXUHDQGLQGHSHQGHQWFXOWXUHH[LVWLQWDQGHP,QGHSHQGHQWFXOWXUHKDVFRQVLVWHQWO\ experienced repression since the mid-nineties. After the 2010 presidential elections, a new black list of performers was drawn up, forbidding groups from being played on the radio and performing in public, removing books by RXWVSRNHQSXEOLF¿JXUHVIURPWKHOLEUDULHVDQGEDQQLQJWKHPIURPVFKRROV,Q%HODUXVWKHDWUHPXVLFOLWHUDWXUH and art remain important outlets for independent thought, much of which is underground. Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists Belarusian Dreams in Independent Culture

Shaun Walker (United Kingdom) studied Russian and Soviet history at Oxford University. Based in Moscow, he has written for The Independent since 2007.

The Independent, 2nd July 2011 7KHDWUH·VDFWRIGHÀDQFHLQ(XURSH·VODVW dictatorship On a quiet street strewn with weeds in the suburbs authorities are cracking down on opposition harder RI 0LQVN D IHZ GR]HQ SHRSOH ¿OH LQWR WKH NQRFNHG than ever before. through living room of a dilapidated bungalow. With the audience members packed in like sardines, It is hard to believe that this ramshackle building PDQ\RQWKHÀRRURUVLWWLQJRQHDFKRWKHU¶VODSVWKHUH houses the home stage of one of the world's most cel- is just about enough space for 50 people in the small ebrated theatre troupes, which later this month will play room, which has white-washed walls and cardboard a run at London's Almeida Theatre, and which has a slats covering the windows. On Thursday evening, it glittering array of celebrity actors and playwrights act- was packed with young Belarusians as the theatre per- ing as its cheerleaders. formed a three-part play called ‘Zone of Silence’. The This is the Belarus Free Theatre, a daring band of play intersperses biting social commentary with touch- actors who put on risqué plays in the stifling political LQJFRPLQJRIDJHVWRULHVDQGWKH¿QDOSDUWLVWKHPRVW and cultural atmosphere of Belarus, where the neo- powerful. The actors perform a series of abstract skits Soviet President Alexander Lukashenko tolerates no and grotesque mimes, while grim statistics about do- dissent, and the KGB se- mestic violence, poverty, curity services make life and political prisoners in a misery for anyone who SHUFHQWRI%HODUXVLDQV¿QGLW Belarus are beamed up on opposes the regime. They to the wall behind them – have attracted a follow- KDUGWRGH¿QHWKHZRUGµGHPRFUDF\¶ “72 per cent of Belarusians ing across the globe, but says one of the captions ¿QG LW KDUG WR GH¿QH WKH here in Minsk, they have word ‘democracy’” says to keep a very low pro- one of the captions. file. The audience are informed of shows by email Despite the uncomfortable conditions and the or text message, and know that at any time the police sticky humid heat of a Minsk summer evening, no- could raid the building and arrest the actors and audi- body says a word or moves a muscle during the mes- ence. It has happened before, and as an economic cri- merising two-and-a-half hour show. At one point, one sis grips Belarus and the protest mood increases, the of the actors does a strikingly realistic impression of

66 67 Shaun Walker Belarusian Dreams in Independent Culture

Mr Lukashenko. In a country where people lower their on by the Free Theatre. It was absolutely different to bution they can afford. Everyone leaves at least some- voices before talking about the president, mocking him anything I’d ever seen before. I realised that this was thing, before heading back into Minsk, where multiple on stage is only for the extremely brave or the foolish. the only theatre I wanted to work in.” ELOOERDUGVSDLQWDSLFWXUHRID%HODUXV¿OOHGZLWKKDSS\ “We thought for a long time whether we should put Ms Yurevich, like the troupe’s other actors, was farmers and loyal citizens, and where it is wise not to this on now, given the current political situation,” says ¿UHGIURPKHUMREZLWKWKHVWDWHWKHDWUHEHFDXVHRIKHU mention that they have attended the illegal theatre. Marina Yurevich, one of the actors in the play. “But in participation in the Belarus Free Theatre. “I understood the end we decided to go ahead with it.” that I had a choice between a stable salary and personal Ever since the theatre was founded by playwright VHFXULW\DQGDUWLVWLFVDWLVIDFWLRQ,WZDVDGLI¿FXOWGHFL- Nikolai Khalezin and his wife Natalia Koliada in 2005, sion to make, but in the end I took the only one that I it has been playing a game of cat and mouse with the could.” authorities. Initially the group performed in different During the two intervals, the audience members bars and cafés across Minsk. But soon, say the actors, smoke with the cast in the theatre’s garden. There is shady representatives of the police or the KGB would a strange hush, as people digest what they have seen, put in an appearance at the venues, and warn the own- and appear unable to vocalise their thoughts. It is not ers that if they continued to allow their premises to be just the political satire that makes the theatre’s shows used for such unsavoury purposes, they could expect a revolutionary. The social subject matter and the aesthet- surprise visit from the tax police soon. Performances ics in general come as a complete shock to Belarusians were switched to private apartments, and now mostly who have been fed a diet of staid, classical drama by take place in the suburban bungalow. the country’s state-run theatres. In a country where The theatre’s supporters abroad include the actor the television’s idea of social programming is to run Jude Law and the playwright Tom Stoppard, as well as features about grain harvests and tractor production, the late Harold Pinter and the playwright and former dealing with issues like sexuality, cancer and suicide is Czech President, Václav revolutionary, as is the fre- Havel. But while they are quent nudity and obscene feted on foreign tours, life Dealing with issues like language which permeate for the theatre inside Be- the performances. larus remains precarious. sexuality, cancer and suicide At the end, there is a Ms Koliada was arrested is revolutionary standing ovation lasting in December during pro- several minutes. “This is tests against elections won the second time I’ve been by Mr Lukashenko, which international observers say to one of their shows,” says a 26-year-old architect ZHUHULJJHG6KHKDVQRZÀHG%HODUXVZLWKKHUKXV- among the audience, who asked not to be named. “It band and is in London, but the theatre’s actors remain. GRHVQ¶WKLW\RXDW¿UVWEXW,UHPHPEHUWKHODVWRQH, “They are the bravest actors in the world,” she says. saw, I kept thinking about little things from it for weeks “I was a student, working in the state theatre, and afterwards. It’s so different to anything else I’ve ever had already seen pretty much everything that was on in seen.” Minsk,” recalls Ms Yurevich after the show has come “Tickets” to the performances are free, but a buck- to an end. “Then I came to see a Sarah Kane play put et is left by the exit for people to leave whatever contri-

68 69 Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists Belarusian Dreams in Independent Culture

Polona Frelih (Slovenia) is the Moscow correspondent for the Slovenian daily Delo since 2007.

Delo, 25th December 2010 Like Fish in an Aquarium that can Sense the Sea

“If you really want to get to know our country, already lost when I was born.” These are the lines of the go to a cemetery. Fresh graves will mostly bear photo- song ‘Lost Generation’ sung by Belarusian rock band graphs of young people. With few prospects, they take Rahis, the residential band of the online project Belaru- to drinking and drugs; there are many suicides. This sian Generation Y, one of the most popular in Belarus. can’t get to me. I grew up in the Soviet Union and I'm In the spirit of the opening song, their aim is to prevent used to suffering,” explains taxi driver Dima while tak- the generation born in the 1980s from losing their way. ing me to the press conference of the Organisation for ³:HDUHWKH¿UVWJHQHUDWLRQWKDWJUHZXSLQDQLQGH- Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held in pendent Belarus, so we’re not familiar with the Soviet Belorussia Hotel in Minsk ideology. This is where after the Belarusian presi- we differ from our parents dential election. As many as 70 per cent of young and the older generation in The election, where people want to leave Belarus as they general, as they grew up in the long-term president Al- see no future in their home country the Soviet Union and have exander Lukashenko won kept the old way of think- by almost 80 per cent, were ing. We want to contribute marked negative as all elections after 1996; the OSCE to people’s education, make them think with their own also demanded the release of 700 opposition protest- heads, speak in Belarusian and respect their roots,” is ers arrested on election night by special police units, how Volja Dudko presents her project. According to some of whom were brutally beaten up. The detainees editor Ales Gerasimenko, trends are rather grim: “A include many young people sentenced to 15 days of survey on Belarusian youth has shown that they view imprisonment for taking part in the forbidden conven- the future with more pessimism than the older genera- tion, which means that they will spend their New Year tion. As many as 70 per cent of young people want to holidays behind bars. But this is by no means the worst leave Belarus as they see no future in their home coun- that can happen to young Belarusians if they stand up try. They are also much more passive than their Western against the system. contemporaries as they are certain that nothing can be “I’m coming from No Man’s Land, I'm heading for changed. They are afraid, as a single wrong move can a deadend. I’ve got no future, I’ve got no name. I was put their entire existence at risk.”

70 71 Polona Frelih Belarusian Dreams in Independent Culture

Instead of focusing on politics, over which it has people. Police dispersed them, of course, as the organ- been long aware of the threat posed by new media, so have shown that the aim of our education system is to QRLQÀXHQFHWKH%HODUXVLDQ*HQHUDWLRQ<GHYRWHVLWV iser had been released from prison half a year ago in they adopted an even stricter Internet legislation on 1 prepare the young to learn to live like their parents in efforts to social and cultural life and tries to show that accordance with the ordinance on amnesty of political -XO\'XULQJWKHSRVWHOHFWLRQSURWHVWVWKHLU¿UVWDFWLRQ the Soviet era. Life is miserable and dreary, and young “even the most isolated European country has a group prisoners, so security authorities had assumed it was was blocking access to the opposition website Charter people begin to think that the state will take care of of active young people who believe that the world can a political action. This proves that we live differently 97; this was followed by a raid of their premises, during everything. Such a person becomes non-competitive in be changed for the better and who do not differ from than people in other countries,” was Gerasimenko’s il- which the authorities seized computers and detained the the labour market and politically completely resigned. their peers around the globe.” The authors of the project lustration of the level of repression. staff. “All collaborators were arrested, including my This is the so-called stability Lukashenko keeps talking “whose aim is to overcome the stereotype that Belarus The more countries you have marked as your travel daughter Iryna. I went to the KGB to give her some per- about. “Most young people don’t want stability, they is nothing but a dictatorship” met us in a bar in the cen- destination, the bigger your reputation in online social sonal things, but I was not allowed to,” said Vladimir want to know where our country is going,” was our in- tre of Minsk with the same music, the same fast food networks in Belarus. Everybody wants to get to know Khalip, the journalist’s father. Iryna is the wife of presi- terlocutor’s assessment of the main defects. In order to and the young clientele dressed in the same fashion as foreign countries, but only few succeed. “I’m the only dential candidate Andrei Sannikov, who also ended up avoid the work assignment, he left computer science elsewhere in the world. In view of the merciless Sun- one in my academic class who has travelled abroad. EHKLQGEDUVZKLFKFRQ¿UPVWKDWWKHQRUPDOUXOHVRIWKH VWXGLHVLQWKH¿QDODFDGHPLF\HDUDQGLVQRZSD\LQJIRU day altercation with opposition protesters, the seeming There is simply no interest, but the lack of money is an game simply do not apply in Belarus. Out of a total of his education himself, which means that he can, after likeness feels like a cheap façade hiding sad stories of even bigger problem. We’re getting 20 euro of schol- nine independent presidential candidates, as many as all, make independent decisions about his future. severely disadvantaged Belarusian youth. If they were arship, while a visa we need for almost every country seven were imprisoned, facing up to 15 years of prison As many as 55 per cent of Belarusian students, ORQJXQDZDUHRILWZKHQOLYLQJOLNH¿VKLQDQDTXDULXP costs 60 euro. Who can afford to travel? What’s more, for having organised mass protests. who pay their school fees, have chosen freedom in this they have been able to sense the sea behind the glass you need an invitation if you want to travel to Western sense, which means that Belarus is, after all, not a wel- for quite a while. This is mainly thanks to online social Europe. Without a visa, we can only travel to countries Let’s Make our Youth Old! fare state to the extent presented by the state media. “A networks and student exchanges, which were organised of the former Soviet Union, Venezuela, Ecuador, Ser- very revealing example is that of Kseniya Avimova, a - especially by neighbouring Lithuania and Poland – bia, Montenegro and Iran. There are too many obsta- The Belarusian ideological apparatus is attempt- journalism student who won the Deutsche Welle award after similar election repressions in 2006. cles,” is the gloomy conclusion of Gerasimenko. “We ing to turn young people into clones of their parents in 2007 for the best photo blog in the world. The dean of live in an isolated world. I want to meet friends from and grandparents; to this end, it employs the education the faculty wanted to send her to work for a state paper, Online Networks – Thorn in the Authorities’ Side all over the world, keep up with global trends and be a system which remains the same as in the Soviet Un- whose mission is merely to extol the government. As part of them. No matter how clichéd it may sound, what ion. Although education is free of charge, it deprives she refused to and wanted to stay at her old independ- Online social network Facebook gains new users I want most is freedom,” was Dudko’s description of young people of any option of free choice. In the last HQWQHZVSDSHUVKHKDGWRSD\D¿QHRI(85 in Belarus much faster than in any other country of the the wishes of many a Belarusian. The recent events in year of studies, the faculty Thank god her prize could world, as this is where young people dare to state their Belarus condemned by the whole world threaten further management chooses jobs cover it. See, this is how positions which they would otherwise almost certainly isolation. for future graduates, at The Belarusian ideological our country rewarded the have to suppress because of constant supervision. There Even more popular than Facebook is the Russian which they must stay for best blogger in the world;” is a great divide, however, between brave words and social network Vkontakte, which 3 million Belarusians at least two years. These apparatus is attempting to turn is the sarcastic account of brave deeds. “In Switzerland, a girl used Facebook to have joined, out of a total 10 million population. This is jobs are usually located in young people into clones of their the young editor. RUJDQLVHDPHHWLQJZKLFKJDWKHUHG¿YHWKRXVDQGSHR- where opposition presidential candidates also saw their the countryside, very often parents and grandparents If she had given in to ple; this is impossible in our country. Under Article opportunity. “Many targeted their presidential cam- even in the area of radio- the pressure, she would 193 of the Criminal Code, as few as a group of three paigns directly at social networks. They bought groups active radiation left over have been rewarded with people may constitute a cause for arrest. A good test with a large number of users where they then published from the Chernobyl catastrophe of 1986, after which a state apartment and many other advantages about of responsiveness of our youth was a pillow battle ad- their photographs and invitations to vote for them.” as much as 72 per cent of radioactive particles ended which an average Belarusian can only dream and with vertised by an active user. It was a perfectly innocent This is how an active user of the network outlined a vi- up in Belarus. They are paid a meagre monthly sum of which the regime buys people’s loyalty. At the same meeting, which nevertheless attracted only a hundred brant online pre-election situation. The authorities have 200 dollars, which is half the average salary. “Surveys time she would have been forced to write articles about

72 73 Polona Frelih Belarusian Dreams in Independent Culture

VWUHHW ULRWV E\ GUXQNHQ \RXWK ZKLFK ÀRRGHG WKH %H- DURXQGZUDSSHGXSLQWKH%HODUXVLDQÀDJ DQGFDUU\LQJ we all want a change” was Khalezin’s prophetic fore- my expulsion by the appropriate deadline, and it’s very larusian media after the post-election protests. Such a photo of Lukashenko. I could no longer speak to him, cast of mass demonstrations which gathered 20,000 likely that I will challenge the decision in court, too,” denigration is a popular tool in the battle against the as too many of my friends who do not agree with the people on the following day, which is more than any says Anufrienka, who has not given up yet. opposition, which was supposedly fatal for Belarusian regime have ended up in prison.” other event in the history of independent Belarus. The ³7KH SRLQW RI WKH ¿OP LV WKDW RXU SDUHQWV DQG human rights activist Yana Palyakova. After the larg- response of the security services was merciless and the grandparents must be warned that things are no longer est newspaper, Sovietskaya Belorussia, ran an editorial The Area of Silence raid was also fatal for Nikolai and his wife. “We are at like they were in the Soviet Union and that more than which ascribed her injuries to her drunken condition, the KGB. The cleaning of the city has begun,” was their one candidate stands for election,” was Gerasimenko’s DOWKRXJKVKHKDGEHHQEHDWHQE\DSROLFHRI¿FHUDWD In the category of freedom of the media and free- telephone message to friends and acquaintances. After UHQGLWLRQ RI WKH SULQFLSDO PHVVDJH RI WKH VKRUW ¿OP police station, Palyakova took her life. Before this, the dom of speech, Belarus ranked 189th out of 196 coun- 14 hours they were released – probably only because of That the young, who are far less numerous, depend on activist from the town of Salihorsk was sentenced to tries, which means that its position was even lower than the fame they enjoy abroad. the decisions of the older generation who must be con- two and a half years of forced labour because of a po- that of Iran, while it ranked even lower than Zimbabwe Even before the elections, artistic freedom proved vinced to vote differently is also the opinion of Dudko, liceman’s action for false testimony. The compromising in the category of human rights. As a side effect of the costly for three young Belarusian citizens, Jauhen Sjap- for whom the actual effect of the clip was opposite than editorial signed with a pseudonym was pulled from the repression, young Belarusians have developed an excel- tjyts, Pavel Bandzich and Aleh Anufrienka, who were desired: “Belarusian professor Elena Gapova, who lec- newspaper website after the tragic event, which may be lent sense of black humour and a vibrant artistic streak. ¿UHGIURPWKHLUMREVDQGH[SHOOHGIURPXQLYHUVLW\EH- tures in America, responded in a very negative way. understood as an indirect confession of the responsibil- The best known dissident art project by far is the Bela- cause of the video clip Hide Your Grandma’s Pass- She is always critical towards the opposition, for she ity for the activist’s death. This example is by no means rus Free Theatre whose shows staged in Great Britain port. The message of the video clip was that this was believes the opposition members insult people who an isolated event. just before the election received standing ovation and the only way to prevent Lukashenko, who had been in vote for Lukashenko. They call them kolkhozniki* The source of it all is the so-called ideological attracted a celebrity audience. The theatre, which oper- SRZHUIRU\HDUVIURPDIRXUWKWHUPLQRI¿FH7KH who cannot think clearly and take their own decisions. services set up in all state-owned companies with the ates illegally in Belarus, was founded by married couple parody, which instantly became a YouTube hit, pointed The truth is that they decide so because they think that task of checking the loyalty of employees. Such a ca- Natalia Koliada and Nikolai Khalezin. Invitations are out the well-known fact that the “last dictator of Eu- only Lukashenko can guarantee their pensions.” reer can be started early sent by text messages and rope”, as he is called by Americans, is voted for espe- While it is not yet over, the process is inevitable. on, say our interlocutors. blogs by which the pub- cially by the older population, which, of course, cannot Even in the last fortress in Europe, the old Soviet man “There is an organisation “The moment is right. I don’t lic learns about the venue be done without a passport. “There is no doubt that this will step down in favour of a new generation of people called Lukamol which of show just a few hours is the doing of the ideology department of the secret who foster the values of the Western world such as de- gathers young Lukashenko know whether it’s enough to bring before the event. This is a service KGB,” believes Bandzich, the former head of mocracy, human rights and market economy. followers. They are active down the regime, but the fact preventative measure taken the theatre department at a university named after the at universities where they is that we all want a change” in 2007, when police units well-known Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov. “I will check students’ loyalty to stormed their performance inquire at the faculty why they failed to notify me about * Kholkoznik – literally, a “collective farm worker’’ [ed. SBIO] the regime and report to the and arrested the entire the- KBG about it. Such people then easily get a job as state atre group as well as audience members. On the day ideologist in companies. This is a job where you don’t before the election, the audience consisting mostly of This article was translated from Slovenian by Polona Glavan have to work at all, but only spy on others. Immediately foreign journalists was shown The Area of Silence, after graduation you become a deputy director of ideol- a play made up of tragic stories about growing up in a ogy, get an apartment and a good car. Can you imag- dictatorial regime. ine such a career leap!” Cooperation with authorities is “The moment is right. I don’t know whether it’s the cause of many broken childhood friendships, adds enough to bring down the regime, but the fact is that Dudko: “I had a really close friend in my home village. I had enough when I saw photographs of him jumping  7KHRI¿FLDOUHGJUHHQVWDWHÀDJ>HG6%,2@

74 75 Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists Belarusian Dreams in Independent Culture

Brendan McCall (USA) is a theater and movement artist whose work has been presented in over 25 countries on 4 continents since 1993.

&RQWHPSRUDU\7KHDWUH5HYÕHZ, 10th June 2011 When Theatre is ‘Thoughtcrime’ In 1958, Harold Pinter wrote that there are “no a play do not involve risking one´s life. Most of the hard distinctions between what is real and what is un- anxieties facing theater artists in the US and Europe real, nor between what is true and what is false. A thing today are economical, “getting butts in seats.” The is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true times of underground theaters performing plays under and false.”1 the spectre of totalitarianism ended with the fall of the Nearly half a century later, the British dramatist Wall, right? expanded on this view during his acceptance speech of Unfortunately, the answer is no. In Hungary and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. While believing %HODUXVWKHDWUHUHPDLQVDQDFWRISROLWLFDOGH¿DQFHLQ that such “assertions still make sense and...as a writer a world reminiscent of George Orwell´s novel Nine- I stand by them,” Pinter emphasized that “as a citizen teen Eighty-Four. And no, things are not “double- I cannot. As a citizen I must ask: What is true? What plusgood”. is false?”2 Last November, an article by Helen Shaw of Time The right to question is a freedom dramatists and Out Magazine caught my eye while my group, En- journalists inherently enjoy around the world. But semble Free Theater Norway, was in residence in Chi- unlike journalism, a play can debate and pose ques- cago. The article, seemingly buried in the back of the tions. The true and the false can be in dialogue through magazine, painted a grim portrait of journalists and the characters and story theatre artists in present- unfolding live before the day Hungary. audience. The theatre is a For most actors or playwrights in Since the center-right “safe” space. nationalist party Fidesz Perhaps the exercise the Western world, the risks taken WRRNRI¿FHLQ$SULO of such freedom is what to perform a play do not involve I read, independent jour- also makes theatre so in- risking one´s life nalism and various cul- trinsically political. Audi- tural institutions were ences assemble in a public becoming targets within space, to watch and to listen. Words stimulate thought, the country. Theaters and other public buildings were and actions generate feeling. For most actors or play- forced to now display the party´s Manifesto, or be ac- wrights in the Western world, the risks taken to perform cused of working “against the State.” Major festivals

76 77 Brendan McCall Belarusian Dreams in Independent Culture were being cancelled as promised funds from the gov- The group cannot advertise their performances, in the play,” it does have something that is “threatening But a threat to human rights in these countries is a ernment vanished. Independent theaters were getting and must perform in secret; audiences learn of a play´s to a dictatorship: open conversation.”4 threat to me. Threats against these artists, journalists, ³SROLWH UHFRPPHQGDWLRQV´ WR KDYH WKHLU ZRUN UHÀHFW location at the last moment through mobile-phone text- In recent months, both Fidesz and Lukashenko are and teachers is cause for alarm, not just for Belarusians positively on Hungary. Prominent Hungarian cultural messaging. Yet, despite these strategies of working doing a frighteningly thorough job of controlling print or Hungarians, but for anyone living in a democracy. ¿JXUHV DQG MRXUQDOLVWV IRXQG WKHPVHOYHV RQ D OLVW RI covertly, members of Belarus Free Theater have en- and digital media. And As the drama of these “Jews, Bolsheviks, and homosexuals.” dured multiple arrests. Recently, so have their audi- while live theater--like horrible events unfold, my Isn´t this the same script used by the fascists of the ences, and people are advised to now always bring their public assembly and free- :KLOHOLYHWKHDWHUUHPDLQVGH¿DQW choice is simple: will I re- last century? passports to their performances. dom of speech--remains main a spectator, or will I Returning to Oslo in December, I got a shocking When Belarus Free Theater visited Oslo last GH¿DQWDQGDOLYHLWLVVWLOO and alive, it is still under threat get up and act? email from human rights activists in Belarus, march- September to perform their play Discover Love at under threat of becoming of becoming what Winston Smith Being Harold ing in protest against the “re-election” of President Det Norske Teatret, I recall one incident vividly. Be- what Winston Smith called called a “thoughtcrime” Pinter´s closing line, Alexandr Lukashenko. Former US Secretary of State fore the show backstage, Co-Director Khalezin in- a “thoughtcrime.” taken from his Nobel ac- Condoleezza Rice may have once called Belarus “the formed me that he and his family had just received In January, Belarus ceptance speech, gives me last true dictatorship in Europe,” but the brutal assaults death threats from the Belarusian government. That Free Theater performed Being Harold Pinter as clear direction: “despite enormous odds which exist, against peaceful protesters on 19 December 2010 in fact that he shared this with me so calmly was ex- part of the Public Theater´s Under The Radar Festival XQÀLQFKLQJ XQVZHUYLQJ ¿HUFH LQWHOOHFWXDO GHWHUPL- Minsk shows a disturbing new level of censorship and traordinary. Even more extraordinary that threaten- in New York. Adapted & directed by Vladimir Sh- QDWLRQDVFLWL]HQVWRGH¿QHWKHUHDOWUXWKRIRXUOLYHV danger. ing a theater director with death, however, was that cherban within a spare aesthetic, the piece combines and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves Rival political candidates were assaulted by the – for Khalezin and his colleagues – this had become fragments from Pinter´s speeches and dramatic writ- upon us all. It is in fact mandatory.”5 KGB, and at least one, Uladzimir Nyaklyaev, was ab- almost ordinary. ings with testimonies of Belarusian political prison- Since 20 December, I have been circulating a pe- ducted from the hospital for eight days. Another, An- After their release from prison last month, Kha- ers. A review in The New York Times called this tition to international theatre artists from around the drei Sannikau, was tortured so extensively that he has lezin, Kolyada, and Zheleznyak have literally gone un- sold-out show “a testament to the power of a single world, opposing these human rights abuses. This has suffered brain damage, according to Amnesty Interna- derground. Knowing that their movements are mostly playwright to inspire, illuminate, and give articulate been forwarded to my leaders of government here in tional researcher Heather McGill. being monitored by the KGB, they do not travel togeth- voice to powerlessness.” Norway, as well as in the United States. I have also During the dark days of Christmas that followed, er. They do not use their phone; their whereabouts are Yet what awaits them upon their eventual return to been working closely with the Norwegian Helsinki UDGLRDQGQHZVSDSHURI¿FHVZHUHORRWHGLQ0LQVNFRQ- inconsistent and undisclosed, even from their children. Minsk? What about the others in Belarus and Hungary Committee here in Oslo, to learn what steps I (or any tinuing the crackdown on free speech. On 25 Decem- Yet, they continue to make theatre. who do not have a voice, do not have freedom to speak, citizen) can do. ber, the Minister of Education said in a statement that What is it about theatre that causes such anxiety to listen, to question? Black Box Teater in Oslo helped me to organize a he would try in absentia all students and teachers who in authoritarian regimes, such as the ones in Belarus The courage of groups like Belarus Free Theater, reading of Being Harold Pinter in January, timed to took part in the protests. On New Year´s Eve, Lukash- and Hungary? Perhaps it´s due to the fact that, as and what they are willing to risk to perform a play, is coincide with Belarus Free Theater´s performances in HQNRGHQLHGWKHUHQHZDOPDQGDWHRIWKH0LQVNRI¿FH Peter Brook wrote in his book The Empty Space, inspiring. As a theater-maker working in the democra- New York. Another colleague of mine, Bari Hochwald, for the Organization for Security & Co-Operation in “the theatre is the last forum where idealism is still cies of Scandinavia and North America, I am fortunate. I is organizing one in Los Angeles this February. I also Europe (OSCE), and has continued to refuse to release an open question.”3 do not live in a society of state-sponsored censorship. I hear one is scheduled to occur in Chicago. And I was over 600 political prisoners. Another, more personal, answer may be found in do not fear being imprisoned for performing a play, or heartened to learn that Kolyada and other Belarusian Among these “enemies of the state” were my friends the words of Khalezin himself, in talking about Belarus assaulted by the police for participating in a peaceful activists met with the current US Secretary of State, and colleagues Artsiom Zheleznyak, Natalya Kolyada, )UHH7KHDWHUV¿UVWSURGXFWLRQ4.48 Psychosis. He protest. To be frank, my “problems” are rather common . and Nikolai Khalezin of Belarus Free Theater. Since describes Sarah Kane´s play as “about a woman´s and mundane, and are similar to many of my colleagues The future of Hungary and Belarus remains uncer- their formation in 2005, this independent theater group psychological decay, homosexuality, and suicide.” in New York and Oslo. By living in a democracy, my tain, not just for theater artists but for all of their citi- has been risking their lives to make theatre. Khalezin goes on to say that, while “there´s no politics primary enemy is self-censorship. zens. I cannot measure the impact of these readings,

78 79 Brendan McCall Belarusian Dreams in Independent Culture letters, or petitions to various governments. I am not New York and Chicago, broadcast a translation of their Ulrike Gruska (Germany) is a freelance journalist covering holding my breath that political change in Belarus or play Discover Love for Swedish radio, and had read- Eastern Europe countries, mainly the former Soviet republics. Hungary will be determined by my staging of a play- ings of their play done by actors and activists from Los reading in Norway. Angeles to Oslo, Norway. While supported by out- Nonetheless, it is worth doing. Like those in Hun- spoken allies such as Tom Stoppard, Jude Law, and Ed th gary and Belarus, I make theatre. We tell stories not Harris, the members of Belarus Free Theater remain Publik Forum, 4 November 2011 just to entertain, but to provoke and to question, to think living in exile from their homes in Minsk since Janu- and to feel. Our job is to give voice to those who are ary, as they will be arrested and imprisoned immedi- silent, and give power to those who are powerless. ately should they return. Otherwise you go mad Hopefully, in time, this work will also inspire au- Young people transform their despair about the cigarette smoke are hanging in the kitchen. Olga Suvo- diences everywhere to speak and to act, and to return 1 from Harold Pinter, „Art, Truth & Politics: The 2005 Nobel dictatorship in Belarus into theatre plays. The KGB is rova has come round, a pianist teaching at the conser- 2UZHOOVVWRU\WRZKHUHLWEHORQJVWRWKHZRUOGRI¿F- Lecture” in The Essential Pinter (Grove Press), 2006. 2 from Pinter, ibid watching. vatoire, and Alexander Ivashkevich, who acts on stage tion. 3 from Peter Brook, The Empty Space (Touchstone), 1968. MINSK. Alesya cannot stand this worn out phrase: together with Vladimir. The doorbell is ringing again Note: 6LQFH ¿UVW ZULWLQJ WKLV DUWLFOH LQ -DQX- 4 from Ingo Petz, „Arrests After the Second Act”, Süddeutsche “Europe’s last dictatorship”. That is what comes to peo- and again. Vladimir shows a video on his laptop: the ary 2011, Belarus Free Theater have presented their Zeitung, 2007. ple’s minds, when they hear that Alesya is from Belar- latest performance of the Korniag-Theatre, one of the play Being Harold Pinter to unanimous acclaim in 5 from Pinter, ibid us. For almost 17 years – since the autocratic Alexander few independent theatres in the country. Vladimir and /XNDVKHQNRFDPHWRSRZHU±WKLVODEHOKDVEHHQ¿UPO\ Alexander are part of the ensemble. In Play No. 7, peo- DI¿[HGWRWKHFRXQWU\(YHQLI\RXVFUDWFKLWRIIDQXJO\ ple are sitting around a kitchen table engaged in endless blot remains, through which everything looks somehow debates – just as they do here in the kitchen. In the play, bleak and dreary. they sometimes get up and The life of Alesya gather for a demonstra- Aleskievich, however, is In Play No. 7, people are sitting tion. They hold up banners anything but dreary. The without any slogans and 32-year-old woman or- around a kitchen table engaged in disperse as imperceptibly ganizes cultural events in endless debates as they appeared. At the Minsk and gets in touch opposite end of the stage, with artists and foreign a creature from another guests as often as with the Belarusian secret service. A world looms high above the others. When director Evg- IHZPRQWKVDJRVKHPRYHGLQWRDQHZÀDWWRJHWKHUZLWK eny Korniag is asked for an interpretation, he explains a friend, the actor Vladimir Zhuravkov. They told their DPELJXRXVO\WKDWLWLVWKHSHUVRQL¿FDWLRQRIGHVWLQ\VLW- neighbors that they were a married couple, because shar- ting there on a throne. And everyone makes up his mind LQJDÀDWZLWKIULHQGVLVXQXVXDOLQ%HODUXV±DVLVZRUN- on his own. ing as a freelancer. They painted the walls bright orange Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since and blue and moved the baroque-style armchairs of their %DFNWKHQKHZRQWKH¿UVW±DQGVRIDURQO\±IUHH previous tenants into the kitchen. It is even smaller now presidential elections. In the following years he based – but incredibly cosy when friends drop in. his power on three pillars: a state-directed, Soviet style Alesya has set the table, she has put out biscuits economy that ensured modest but steady prosperity; a and chocolate, oranges, tea and wine. Thick clouds of foreign policy that skillfully played off Russia against

80 81 Ulrike Gruska Belarusian Dreams in Independent Culture the West; and a tight network of security services that were arrested. The law on public assembly was tight- larusian parallel worlds for it: about the normality on brutally crushes any criticism and spreads an atmo- ened, now it criminalizes people in certain areas even the streets, the violence against dissidents and the for- sphere of fear among the people. When tens of thou- for doing nothing. None of Alesya’s friends went to the lornness in virtual networks, where thoughts are free, sands of Belarusians took to the streets in December meeting on Bangalore Square today. Olga shakes her but lonely. “Art needs to wake people up”, Dasha says. 2010 to protest against vote-rigging, they clashed with head and takes a deep drag on her cigarette. “We are not “They must stop lamenting at the kitchen table and the full force of the police state: More than 700 people a country in which the people decides anything”, she think about how they can change the situation.” – many opposition leaders among them – were arrest- VD\V$ IHZ KXQGUHG GLVVDWLV¿HG$OHV\D VWDWHV JDWK- Vladimir and Alexander staged her play – so poi- ed, some tortured and sentenced to long prison terms in ered on the Square today anyway – a ridiculously small gnantly and so insistently, that it hurt watching it, said show trials. Besides that, the country suffered a severe number in comparison to “the blacks” who surrounded a woman in the audience. Somebody asked the actors economic crisis last spring: The Belarusian Ruble was WKHPSROLFHPHQLQULRWJHDUDQGLQWHOOLJHQFHRI¿FLDOV what could be changed, what kind of country they devalued by 55 percent, foreign investment fell to al- LQFLYLOLDQGUHVV7KH\¿OPHGWKHIDFHVRIWKHSURWHVWRUV dreamt of. The young men did not utter a word for a most zero and one in ten employees faced temporary and recorded the speeches of their leaders. while. “Well”, Vladimir then thought aloud, “what layoff. Ensuring stability and security – this is what The secret service, still called the KGB in Belarus, kind of Belarus do we dream of?” And Alexander said many Belarusians had appreciated their president for is omnipresent. “They show you clearly: You are be- vaguely, more to himself: “If only we knew.” so far. But when, in addition to the economic crisis, 14 ing observed”, says Alesya. She talks about letters from people were killed by an ex- abroad that arrive damaged *all names changed plosion in the Minsk metro and resealed by the Be- LQ$SULOFRQ¿GHQFHLQWKH Alesya is convinced that the larusian Post with strange political leadership was ir- regularity. She mentions retrievably destroyed. The problem of Belarus is not the unknown man, who Independent Institute of Lukashenko. It is, she says, the fear showed up at one of her Socio-Economic and Po- and passiveness of the people poetry readings the other litical Studies (IISEPS) es- day. He stood there for ten timates that today less than minutes demonstratively one third of the population supports Lukashenko. listening and then disappeared. She recalls the eve- Alesya Aleksievich looks out of the window. It QLQJZKHQVKHQRWLFHGDOLJKWEXUQLQJLQKHUHPSW\ÀDW is a cold, wet day in October. A meeting of opposition Fearfully, she spent the night at her friend’s house and groups was planned for today on Bangalore Square in came back in the morning. The light had been switched front of her house. Nothing reminds of the verve in the RII³7KHUHZDVDWLPHZKHQ,ZDVVRWHUUL¿HGWKDW, summer months, when Belarusians attracted interna- almost panicked”, she remembers. “But then I said to tional attention with sophisticated new forms of protest: myself: Stop, you must not think about that any more, They arranged meetings through the internet, gathered otherwise you will go mad.” in central areas of Minsk and other cities – and in some Alesya is convinced that the problem of Belarus is cases did nothing at all. Predominantly young protes- not Lukashenko. It is, she says, the fear and passiveness tors expressed their dissatisfaction with the regime by of the people. That is why she organizes exhibitions for clapping their hands, calling each other on their cell modern artists and readings for young poets. In spring phones, or simply hanging around. No banners, no she held a workshop in creative writing. Twenty-seven- slogans, no chanting. Nevertheless, several hundreds year-old Dasha Martchuk composed a play about Be-

82 83 Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists Belarusian Dreams in Independent Culture

Ángela Espinosa Ruiz (Spain) is studying for a degree in Slavic philology at the University of Granada.

YMalaga, 28th December 2010 Spain-Belarus. Contrast of concerns

My name is A. E. I live in a city the name of which, ¿JKWDQREOHFDXVHVRPHWKLQJWRVDFUL¿FHRXUOLIHVIRU as Cervantes did in his day, I shall omit deliberately. It What on Earth!? Is this the Spanish battle for Liberty? is irrelevant. It is located, that I will say, in the South of For Truth? Ah, not only that, I forgot the Sinde Law. Spain. Yes, Spain! Flamenco dancer, toreador, paella!

84 85 Ángela Espinosa Ruiz $XWKRUV·3URÀOHV it snows over the blood shed on the Square. Lukash- night there were images on Spanish television, I wanted enko had, again -and already for the fourth time- won and didn’t want to look. From ***, I expected it. *** the Election. 80% of votes, the Government claimed. is very brave; a hero; in the best sense of the word, a Where is that Rousseau guy? Obviously, dead and well Quixote. A bit like myself, but better. *** has faith in buried in France. Especially for Belarusians. their country. And so do I. Thousands of people By force! Dispersed went out to protest against by force! People arrested the system. Many thou- My Belarusians. Very dear friends at night, in their homes... sands. No. Many people, They had knocked the each with a life, family, of mine. People I love, and for doors down. A legit 80%, friends, dreams. “Dem- whom I cried and prayed that said the tyrannic traitor! onstrators were quickly nightmarish night Where was Liberty hiding? dispersed by the police, Where did Truth run away some of them brutally to? What is the meaning beaten...” the radio recited religiously the following of Fraternity? Only cruelty was present the night of the morning. 19th in Minsk. Justice excused herself as being ill. In the end, I could talk to them. My Belarusians. , I believe in Belarus, in her people, and in Very dear friends of mine. People I love, and for whom the sad but solid chords of the melody that gives strength I cried and prayed that nightmarish night. My friend to go on to this scandalously oppressed people. FRQ¿UPHGZKDW,GHHSLQVLGHDOUHDG\NQHZ³,ZDV The light comes back. In the end, we won’t be al- there last night”, *** sentenced. “Where?”, I asked, and lowed to smoke in the line for the theatre. “Shameful”, I had understood. “On the Square”. I knew it before *** my classmates cry. “It is a violation of our most ba- said. And because of that, the night of the 19th, the only sic freedoms!” And I look at the falling rain.

$ZDUGFHUHPRQ\DW3UHVV&OXE3ROVND/HIWWRULJKW XSSHUURZ -DURVáDZ:áRGDUF]\N 3UHVV&OXE3ROVND 6DP.QLJKW.LU\O.DVFLDQ 0LFKDá3RWRFNL6HDQ:DONHU ORZHUURZ $QJHOD5XL](VSLQR3RORQD)UHOLK%UHQGDQ0F&DOO

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86 87 Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists

Professional Journalists SUHVHUYHGLQPXOWLQDWLRQDOVWDWHV7KDWLVZKDW¿UVWEUR- reform in the UK, post-crash Iceland, and the arrival ught her to Belarus where she has met many interesting of the Olympics in London. His work has appeared in people with one common problem – a political system Harper’s, The New York Times and The New Republic. that is an enemy not only to Belarusian national revival, James Kirchick is a writer and foreign correspon- He is currently working on a book about life in Europe but also to basic human rights. dent based in Central Europe, and a contributing editor GXULQJWKH¿QDQFLDOFULVLV Polona started her career on the news desk of the to The New Republic and World Affairs Journal. He is 6DP¿UVWYLVLWHG0LQVNLQWRZULWHDERXWWKH Gesine Dornblueth is an editor, political corres- Slovenian National Television back in 1997, covering a fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democra- Jakub Kolas Lyceum, a Belarusian language school for- pondent, and commentator on socio-legal issues for events in the countries of the former Soviet Union and cies and an adjunct fellow of the Center for European mally closed down by the authorities in late 2003, but Deutschland-Radio. In 2012, she became head of De- LWVVSKHUHRILQÀXHQFH6KHDOVRDXWKRUHGDZHHNO\UHYL- Policy Analysis. Prior to joining FDD, he was writer- which continued to meet in people’s homes. He can- utschland Radio’s Moscow desk. During her career, she ew on world events called the Weekly Mirror and was a at-large for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, reporting not remember why he decided to write about Belarus, has covered politics, economics, culture and sport in Slovenian correspondent to the CNN World Report. on the politics and cultures of the 21 countries in RFE/ only that it seemed important to do so, and very hard to Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. RL’s broadcast region. Among the stories he covered ¿JXUHRXW6LQFHWKHQKHKDVUHWXUQHGLQWRZULWH While working in Germany for various radio stations were the fraudulent 2010 presidential election in Be- DERXWWKHLPPHGLDWHLPSDFWRIWKH¿QDQFLDOFULVLVRQ (Bavarian Radio, West-German Radio and Deutschland larus, ethnic cleansing in Kyrgyzstan, and the Libyan the country and then, in December 2010, to cover the Radio), she frequently travelled to Russia, Ukraine, Civil War. presidential elections for Harper’s. Moldova, Belarus, and the South Caucasus. For over three years, Kirchick worked at The New A graduate in Eastern Slavic Studies, economics Ulrike Gruska is a freelance journalist covering Republic, covering domestic politics, intelligence, and and journalism from Hamburg university, Gesine holds Eastern Europe countries, mainly the former Soviet re- American foreign policy. He writes frequently for many a PhD in philosophy. publics. Concentrating on social and cultural issues, she periodicals including Newsweek, Commentary, The writes features and in-depth-analyses for German print Weekly Standard, The American Interest, The Virginia media. After studying politics and Eastern European Quarterly Review, The Columbia Journalism Review, Katarzyna Kwiatkowska specializes in Eastern Studies at the University of Hamburg (Germany), Ul- Prospect, Foreign Policy and Policy Review, among European issues. She is a member of Res Publica Nowa rike worked as an editor for German minority newspa- others. He has also written for The New York Times, (a quarterly that seeks to enhance public debate in Po- pers in Russia’s Volga region and for n-ost, the Network , and Wall land), a publicist of the portal ‘Wirtualna Polska’ and Polona Frelih is the Moscow correspondent for for Reporting on Eastern Europe in Berlin. In 2010 she Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post and The Los also collaborates with Gazeta Wyborcza (a leading Pol- the Slovenian daily Delo. Since 2007 she has been published “Zeit für Moskau”, a book about Moscow’s Angeles Times. He is a monthly columnist for Ha’aretz ish daily). Her articles have been published in Gazeta following political, economic, cultural and everyday architecture, art scene and contemporary life. In the and a frequent contributor to Tablet. Wyborcza, Tygodnik Powszechny, Polityka and New life in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet following year she reported from the South Cauca- Eastern Europe, as well as in Russian and Ukrainian Union. She reports on various subjects - from breaking sus, spending several months in (Georgia). In media. She received the Pen of Hope award from Am- QHZVVWRULHVVXFKDVWKH*HRUJLDQ5XVVLDQFRQÀLFWLQ 2012 she returned to Germany and is now responsible nesty International for her interview with Oleg Alkaev, South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008, daily challenges for media relations in Reporters without Borders’ Ber- formerly head of an execution group in Belarus. of the indigenous population of Yamalo-Nenetsk Au- OLQ RI¿FH %HODUXV ZDV RQH RI WKH ODVW EOLQG VSRWV RQ As a student, Katarzyna spent time in Minsk where tonomous Region, to the national revival and political her inner map of Eastern Europe, before she came to Sam Knight is a magazine writer. He writes main- she studied at the Belarusian Legal Sciences Institute repressions in Belarus. Minsk in autumn 2011. She was deeply impressed by ly for the Financial Times’ weekend magazine and for and volunteered with Belarusian student organizations. Coming from Slovenia, a relatively small country the open-minded, enthusiastic people she met and by Prospect, a British monthly magazine, where he is a She is the co-editor of a book about Belarusian students which in 1991 gained its independence from the former the vivid art life of the city. contributing editor. He often writes about people and living in Poland, published in 2008. Yugoslavia, Polona has always been interested in the places undergoing profound change and over the last question of how and to what extent national identity is 18 months has covered subjects such as health service

88 89 Belarus in Focus: Through the eyes of international journalists

which eventually turned into an interest in the politi- etry when she was six years old. In 2011, she graduated McCall has worked with Belarus Free Theater in cal and economic situation in these states. Besides his from a musical conservatory with honours (Profession- Minsk and Oslo since 2009. The candid sharing by co- mother tongue he speaks English, Russian, Belarusian al Degree in Piano and Humanistic Baccalaureate). She founders Natalia Koliada and Nikolai Khalezin of their 8ƧLV/ƯELHWLVis the senior international correspon- and Ukrainian. In the past he also learned Esperanto, also obtained the Extraordinary Baccalaureate Prize in experiences in Minsk, including imprisonment and dea- dent for Latvian Radio. For over 13 years, Ugis Libi- German, Greek and Japanese, and promises he will im- Málaga. WKWKUHDWVDVZHOODVWKHKRUUL¿FHYHQWVVXUURXQGLQJWKH etis has followed major international events for Latvian prove some of these languages. ,Q  VKH ZDV DZDUGHG ¿UVW SUL]H LQ WKH WK December 2010 elections in Belarus; inspired McCall public radio, reporting in either Latvian or Russian. In Musical Contest “Ángeles Reina” (speciality in piano). to take more action as an educator, activist, and human the last few years, events in Ukraine, and especially Be- In 2008, she won the Ben Franklin Transatlantic Fel- being. One of these was the writing of “When Theatre larus, have received a lot of public interest. Ugis Libi- lows Initiative Scholarship, awarded by the US Gov- is ´Thoughtcrime´,” published in Contemporary Thea- etis has followed 2010 Belarus presidential elections ernment to young world leaders. During this program, tre Review (United Kingdom) in 2011. in Minsk and silent protests the last summer. Radio she became aware of international political issues and Information / Contact: www.ensemblefreetheater- reports about these events were nominated for the Lat- Shaun Walker was born in London and studied took a special interest in the Belarusian situation. norway.com vian Journalism Association’s Journalism Excellency Russian and Soviet history at Oxford University. He Besides her native Spanish, she speaks English, BFA with Honors, N ew York University; MFA, Award in 2011. KDVOLYHGLQ0RVFRZVLQFH¿UVWZRUNLQJIRUDQ French and Russian, and is currently learning German, Bennington College. Besides reporting as a journalist, Ugis Libietis par- NGO and then as a journalist for the magazine Russia Ukrainian and Polish. At present, she is a freshman at ticipates in various discussions about the situation in 3UR¿OH 6LQFH  KH KDV ZRUNHG IRU The Indepen- the University of Granada (Slavic Philology) and she Belarus. dent, reporting on news from Russia and other former is collaborating in a translation project of contempo- Soviet countries, including Belarus. He has travelled to rary poetry (Spanish to Russian) with the Interpreters’ Belarus several times in the past year, reporting from School of the University. the street protests in summer 2011 and the trial of Dmit- Kiryl Kascian holds a degree in International Law ry Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalyov over the Minsk from the Belarusian State University and an LL.M in metro bombing. International and European Law from the University of Bremen. He is a PhD candidate in Law at the Universi- 0LFKDá3RWRFNL was born in Warsaw in 1984, and His work has also been published in The Christian ty of Bremen, Germany. studied international relations at Warsaw University. In Science Monitor, Prospect, The New Statesman, open- Kiryl is a web-editor of “Belarusian Review”, an 2008 he started to work for the Polish daily newspa- democracy.org, Slate.com, and Monocle magazine. Brendan McCall (USA) is a theater and move- English-language quarterly journal established by the per ‘Dziennik¶ZKLFKLQZDVXQL¿HGZLWKµGazeta Outside journalism, his interests include football, opera ment artist whose work has been presented in over 25 Belarusian-American Association and fully devoted to Prawna’, a daily specialising in economy and law, and and food. countries on 4 continents since 1993. Belarus: to its current political and economic situation, subsequently became ‘Dziennik Gazeta Prawna’. His In 2010, he founded Ensemble Free Theater culture and history, as well as to events in the Belarusi- articles have been published in media such as Eastern- Norway in Oslo, an independent theater group dedicated an diaspora. Kiryl is the author of various scholarly and Partnership.org, ‘New Eastern Europe’, New.org.pl and Citizen Journalists to new work and international collaboration. McCall analytical articles, book chapters, as well as book revi- ‘Przekrój’ (a weekly national magazine). Besides Be- has taught at universities internationally since 1994, ews in English, German and Belarusian. His expertise larus he covers Russian and Ukrainian issues as well as including 6 years at the graduate level, and 7 years in covers law, politics and societies of Central and Eastern the European debt crisis. He was an ad hoc correspon- administration on 3 continents. His articles have appe- Europe as well as the Newly Independent States in both dent during the parliamentary and presidential elec- ared in Contemporary Theatre Review, Contact Quar- historical and contemporary perspectives with a parti- tions in Belarus and presidential elections in Ukraine. terly Dance Journal, Movement Research Performance cular focus on Belarus. Belarus and Ukraine are not only his professional du- Ángela Espinosa was born in Málaga (Spain) in Journal, Dance Magazine, and will be including in the ties but also a hobby that started with a fascination in 1993. By the age of three, she had already learnt how upcoming book The Actor´s Checklist: Creating the Belarusian and Ukrainian rock music in the early 2000s to read and write on her own, starting to compose po- Complete Character (Cengage) by Dr. Rosary O´Neill.

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