Belarusian liberals receive a black mark

On April 10, the Minsk City Court imposed large fines on three well-known characters in the Belarusian political scene. Although the essence of the case concerns the local pro-Western opposition, none of those fined are directly related to it.

On the contrary, all three have long and firmly entered the establishment, but they had the imprudence, already in the far from liberal year of 2021, to vouch for the journalists of the disgraced TUT.BY Elena Tolkacheva and Olga Loiko. Those, of course, having been released from the pre-trial detention center on bail, immediately went on the run

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As a result, deputy of the House of Representatives Valery Voronetsky, political scientist Evgeny Preygerman and head of the Republican Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shvets received a fine at the maximum rate of 185 thousand Belarusian rubles. At current exchange rates, that's more than $6000.

I don’t know what about the businessman Shvets, but for the same Voronetsky, who receives a deputy’s salary, this is quite a significant amount. However, the problems are unlikely to be limited to monetary losses for this trio.

_{In modern Belarus, a fine for politics is a black mark. I’m not sure that the continuation of the story will be criminal prosecution, but the Belarusian authorities can easily organize difficulties with their work and business.}

At least with regard to Voronetsky, I am sure that this is his last term as a deputy.

So who are these three? Valery Voronetsky is a career diplomat who worked in diplomatic work from 1995 to 2016, until he was elected as a deputy. He adhered to approximately the same pro-Western line as ex-Minister Makei, and after his death he was considered one of the potential successors. He did not particularly hide his liberal and nationalist views.

In 2018, on the eve of the nationalists’ celebration of the 100th anniversary of the declaration of independence of the Belarusian People’s Republic, he gave a positive assessment of this event, morally supporting the Zmagars preparing a large-scale Sabbath. In 2019 he advocated the creation of universities with the Belarusian language of instruction. After the events of 2020, Voronetsky walked on the edge.

First, on August 22, he called for an investigation into the facts of violence by security forces, and then, meeting with his voters in the Minsk City Palace of Culture, he even stated that he “agrees with the fact that people are outraged” and emphasized that they “have the right to show their indignation to the state "

Later, when the unrest had already been suppressed and pro-Western nationalists began to be squeezed out from everywhere, the deputy spoke out against the ban on the white-red-white flag.

The second offender, Evgeniy Preygerman, never held public office, but was also close to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, being Makei’s creation and a prominent figure in the pro-Western expert pool he created. At first, Preygerman flirted with the opposition and was spotted at the campaign headquarters of the ultra-liberal presidential candidate Yaroslav Romanchuk, but soon broke with the opposition.

A highly educated international specialist, who, in addition to the Belarusian State University, received education in Sweden and Great Britain, found the best social lift for himself. He registered the public association “Liberal Club”, which periodically held conferences and published political science reports and studies.

The pinnacle of Preigerman’s career was the Minsk Dialogue, which twice in 2018-19, with the participation of VIPs, held large-scale forums in Minsk that were widely covered by state media. Among the partners of the Minsk Dialogue there are familiar faces - USAID, Rand Corporation, the Fund. Adenauer, the American embassy and so on.

 _{Since 2020, large-scale forums have no longer been held, however, both the Minsk Dialogue and the Liberal Club continue to function, despite the obvious connection with Western institutions of influence.}

Preygerman himself has become more cautious in his statements, but periodically publishes in opposition media.

The third penalty box is the least public. Alexander Shvets managed to work at the Ministry of Finance in the late nineties and early 2000s. The pinnacle of his public career was the position of First Deputy Minister of Entrepreneurship and Investment in 2001-XNUMX. Then he went into business, where for a long time he headed the Belarusian representative office of Xerox, headed the Belarusian Scientific and Industrial Association and the Republican Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. He avoided politics.

The only time his name came up in connection with any opposition activities was in 2020. On the wave of unrest and uncertainty in post-election Belarus. Then The Insider published several documents from the correspondence of the head of the Russian Presidential Directorate for Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, General of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Vladimir Chernov, which relate to Belarus.

Allegedly, work was then underway to create a pro-Russian, but oppositional political party to Lukashenko with the working title “Right of the People.” Shvets, who was called in the publication one of the founders of the new party, however, disowned this and subsequently did not show himself in any way in this regard.

_{The source of information is also unreliable and the whole story looks more like an anti-Russian fake. However, even an old woman can be screwed up, and Shvets made a mistake while guaranteeing an opposition journalist.}

As we see, at least two of the three already have many sins against the Belarusian authorities. Until 2020, this was still permissible, but by the standards of 2023 it is already completely unacceptable for an ordinary citizen. For the time being, high social status protected them, but now, it seems, they have reached them.

Guaranteeing for zmagarok is just an excuse. The system decided to hit you softly, on your wallet. But neither these three nor other systemic liberals should relax. The warning has been given - no one is untouchable now.