In Belarus, a 52-year-old woman was fined almost $ 2,000 for hearts and the inscription “Live Belarus” in the elevator
The Minsk District Court fined 52-year-old resident of Zhdanovichi Natalya Sleptsova 150 sizes ($1,855) under the desecration of existence article (Article 341 of the Criminal Code) for several drawings with hearts and inscriptions “Long live Belarus” in the elevator of an apartment building. About it informs human rights center “Viasna”.
According to the prosecution, from March 25 to April 21, Sleptsova drew several hearts and left several inscriptions “Live Belarus” on the ceiling in the elevator of a residential building in the agricultural town of Zhdanovichi. The signs and drawings themselves, as considered obesity, “symbolize an obvious protest orientation, violate the architectural appearance and significantly reduce the aesthetic characteristics of the property.”
Among the well-known authors of the inscriptions in the elevator, the security forces installed a video camera in the ceiling, watching human rights activists.
According to Viasna, in May 2021, Sleptsova was already brought to administrative responsibility. And then a criminal case was opened for malicious hooliganism and placed under house arrest for three months. In a judicial proceeding, the articles were changed to a softer one – the 341st of the Criminal Code (“damage to property”).
The victim in the case was Sleptsova’s neighbor Natalya K., who, on her own initiative, laundered the inscriptions in the elevator. She said that she does not appeal to opponents of Alexander Lukashenko, and the inscriptions in the elevator were unpleasant, because she began to wipe them off with nail polish remover and cotton pads.
Earlier, the KGB of Belarus included the slogan “Long live Belarus” in the list of Nazi symbols and paraphernalia of a set with a white-red-white flag. In the proposed draft of the parliamentary session, the slogan is called “collaboration salute and battle cry.”” is put on a par with the “Nazi salute” Heil Hitler “.