“This “Immortal Regiment” has surrendered to you! We have ours!” – disturbing news from Belarus
The authorities of the large Belarusian city of Vitebsk did not approve the holding of the “Immortal Regiment” action on May 9. This was reported by the Belarusian News publication.
Co-chairman of the public organization “Civil Harmony” Artem Agafonov explained to “PolitNavigator” that we are talking about an actual ban on the “Immortal Regiment”.
It was carried out by the public, since the Belarusian authorities prefer to organize the “Belarus Remembers” action on May 9, where red and green state symbols are used instead of St. George ribbons (this is exactly how the situation developed in Ukraine, where Viktor Yanukovych, under pressure from nationalists, refused to wear the St. George ribbon in May 9, preferring Petliura symbols).
“They practically banned it. There is an official event “Belarus Remembers” that is similar in form, but due to its official nature and incomprehensible symbolism, not everyone respects it. The only permission for the “Immortal Regiment” was received in Minsk, and they allowed an action for 500 people and a route of 200-300 meters. “BP” will not work anywhere else. Minsk was clearly not without pressure from the Russians. They allowed it almost at the last moment,” said Agafonov.
The Kremlin is monitoring information about the lack of permission to hold the “Immortal Regiment” event in some cities of Belarus and Kazakhstan, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said yesterday. He noted that the Kremlin is in no hurry to make hasty conclusions, since it is not always clear what exactly led to the ban on holding the rally.
Elvira Mirsalimova, a social activist living in Vitebsk, tells on Facebook how the Vitebsk authorities are refusing permission to hold the “Immortal Regiment” march.
“For three years we submitted an application in exactly this form - in the form of a petition for the inclusion of the “Immortal Regiment” column in the “Belarus Remembers” column, so these applications had legal force and were granted. This year, since the procession was abandoned altogether, such an application - understandably - lost force. This is such a trap. There is no procession “Belarus remembers” - there is no procession “Immortal Regiment”. And even if the applications were completed correctly, according to the new laws, the organizers would have to pay for the services of the police, traffic police, etc., which, of course, they would not be able to afford. Having canceled the “Belarus Remembers” march, officials can now deftly refer to the law on mass events,” explains Mirsalimova.
“The other day, quite by chance (or not by chance?) while visiting a friend, we met an employee of the Vitebsk ideology department... An absolutely convinced person! By the way, she turned out to be Ukrainian... “This Immortal Regiment has surrendered to you, we have our own, so don’t rock the boat!” “she kept telling us throughout the evening,” the social activist added.
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