US Department of Justice on Thursday, January 20, advanced charging against four Belarusian officials. These are the general director of the Belarusian enterprise for air navigation services for air traffic “Belaeronavigatsiya” Leonid Churo, his deputy Oleg Kazyuchits, as well as two employees of the state security agencies of Belarus.
We are talking about Ryanair flight FR4978, which was forced to land at Minsk Airport in May 2021. Among others, on the aircraft of the fourth composition of the citizen Gathered, appointed in the Ministry of Justice.
The Belarusians “have developed a carefully thought-out scheme to falsify the message about the bomb,” the American side believes. As a result of this plane, the public was forced to land in Minsk, the Belarusian authorities could bring to justice an activist who criticizes them and is wanted by Minsk on suspicion of provoking “massive armed conflicts”, as well as his girlfriend, the Ministry of Justice added. Allegedly, the conspiracy not only violated criminal prosecution under US law, but endangered the lives of innocent passengers noted by the department.
Emergency landing on board Ryanair and statement regarding Belarus
On May 23, 2021, the Belarusian authorities forced a Ryanair airliner flying from Athens to Vilnius to make an emergency landing in Minsk, saying that they had received a message that they were approaching an approaching bomb. The pilots received an order to fly to the capital of Belarus a few minutes before passing through Lithuanian airspace. After Ryanair landed in Minsk, there was no bomb on the circumference, but two passengers were detained – Belarusian opposition blogger Roman Protasevich and his companion, Russian citizen Sofya Sapega.
On June 5, the European Union imposed a ban on the use of EU space and airports. Council device for European air travel over the territory of Belarus. Later, other countries joined the sanctions against Minsk in connection with the assembly, in particular Japan and a number of European countries that are not included in this annex.
In mid-January, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) presented to the participants of the countries a report on the investigation of participation in the landing of airliners in the Belarusian capital. Thus, in the discovery of inconsistencies in the reports of the Belarusian authorities, there is a time of anonymous discovery of cases of bombs in aircraft.
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Protest – in artBelarusian poster
Posters for world protest
“Everything is so bad that even introverts came out,” one of the posters leans towards the Belarusian world protest a year ago. An exhibition at the Folkwang Museum in Essen, Germany, shows how Belarusians express their dissatisfaction through art. They are the organizers in solidarity with the favorable conditions in Belarus, which require changes, and draw attention to the difficult situation of cultural figures arising from repression.
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Protest – in artBelarusian poster
Graphic symbols of the opposition
The heart, “Victors” and the group became symbols of the protest leaders: Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Maria Kolesnikova and Veronika Tsepkala. The opposition logo was based on a drawing by Antonina Slobodchikova. Posters that appear at street actions in Belarus are posted on the Сultprotest.me platform. Due to the persecution of those who did not agree with the facades, the protest became partisan and actively continues on the Internet.
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Protest – in artBelarusian poster
Responsible for repression
The red bloody streak belongs to Lukashenka. The Belarusian ruler is widely seen as responsible for the brutal and uncompromising crackdown on massive Belarusian protests following the August 2020 presidential election. “Sometimes they won’t make it,” he said at a meeting with the security forces, justifying non-compliance with the requirements for the use of force. In the photo – a poster of Ekaterina Prokopyeva.
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Protest – in artBelarusian poster
Memes about “three percent”
Famous designer Vladimir Tsesler dedicated fashion to the Belarusian protest. Dangerous repression, he left the country, but continue to embrace the theme of change. By choice, Alexander Lukashenko won 80% of the vote in the presidential elections, but the export and opposition talk about large-scale falsifications. According to some online polls, 3% voted for him. These numbers have spawned many memes.
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Protest – in artBelarusian poster
Instead of wings – Belarusian prison bars
The forced landing filled by Ryanair in Minsk and the arrest of opposition blogger Roman Protasevich, who was a passenger on board, drew sharp criticism around the world. This merger is reminiscent of another poster by Vladimir Tsesler, who reinterpreted the logo of the Irish airline.
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Protest – in artBelarusian poster
Violation of human rights
Human rights activists talk about egregious violations in Belarus. Amnesty International failed in that the judiciary met for the meetings of those who descended from the actions of the security forces, and not for those involved in the case. About 700 Belarusians filed complaints about torture and beatings. The Investigative Committee called for the initiation of a criminal case. Anna Muraida poster.
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Protest – in artBelarusian poster
Protest colors
The historical white-red-white (WCH) symbolism in Belarus has turned into the symbolism of the protesters. The authorities call her demonstration, even in the form of a picture on the window or socks, an illegal picket, they write her out for fines, for arrest. One of the first cases: a resident of Minsk has to pay about 1,000 dollars for red-and-white pigtails.
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Protest – in artBelarusian poster
Belarusian’s nightmare – paddy wagon
The paddy wagons have become a symbol of detention and torture of not only protesters, but also passers-by, who the security forces mistook for such. The Belarusians themselves call the fear of this special transport roaming the streets of cities “busophobia”. Belarusian conceptual artist Nick Osadchy dedicated his work to her.
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Protest – in artBelarusian poster
Peaceful dialogue with a security official
Flowers and searches for a world dialogue against barbed wire and machine guns. Illustrator Olga Balai dedicated her work to pensioner Nina Baginskaya, one of the characters of the Belarusian revolution. The artists also express their protest in social networks under the hashtags #cultpratetest #cultprotest #cultprotest. The exhibition in Essen will last until 24 October.
Author: Raina Breuer, Janina Moroz