Chernobyl Way: Authorized, but banned (On-line coverage)

Despite the rally format on the anniversary of Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster had been authorized, policemen arrested activists and sound-amplifying equipment.

The participants of the rally started to gather at 6 p.m. at the spot near the Academy of Science in Minsk.

The demonstration was held from 6.30 p.m. till 7.30 p.m. from the building of the presidium of the National Academy of Science along Surhanau Street and up to the People’s Friendship Park, where an one-hour mourning meeting was held.

Chernobyl Way - 2012 rally was held with the key demand to give up the idea of constructing a nuclear power plant in Astravets. Besides the ecological problems, other hot topics were raised at the rally. The release of political prisoners was the most important of them.

5:47 pm

The small square in front of the Academy of Science is enclosed with crowd control barriers. People can go closer to the building only after riot policemen check their bags.

5:56 pm

Five minibuses without identification numbers, a police car with sound amplifying equipment, ambulances and road police cars  are parked on Akademichnaya Street.

6:00 pm

About 100 people gathered near the Academy of Science. Co-head of the organizing committee Yury Khadyka and public activist Artur Finkevich have been noticed. Policemen are filming the demonstrators.

6:07 pm

Belarusian national white-red-white flags and flags of European Belarus campaign, Yabloko Party, Young Belarus appeared. Head of the Belarusian Language Community Aleh Trusau, member of the 12th Supreme Council Lyavon Dzyaiko, writer Syarhei Zakonnikau, presidential candidate Vital Rymasheuski have come, “Nasha Niva” newspaper reports.

6:10 pm

Riot policemen check slogans on banners and posters. Several hundreds people have already come to the gathering place, Radio Svaboda informs.

6:13 pm

Rally participants raised a banner “Atom cannot be peaceful”.  Flags of Tell the Truth campaign appeared. Former political prisoner Zmitser Bandarenka and his wife Volha, writers Henadz Buraukin and Slavamir Adamovich came.

6:19 pm

Russian party Yabloko raised a banner “No to NPP”, Young Belarus organization unfurled a banner “Our pain Chernobyl”. Participants of the rally register for the campaign to boycott the “parliamentary elections”.

Demonstrators brought the Chernobyl Bell. Politicians Syarhei Kalyakin and Viktar Karnyaenka arrived.

6:20 pm

Metro trains does not stop at the Academy of Science station.

6:25 pm

Yury Khadyka, one of the organizers of the Chernobyl Way 2012 rally, told Radio Svaboda the rally would be held without sound amplifying equipment. The Belarusian TV and radio transmitting centre refused to lease equipment and a private firm asked too high lease price (20 million rubles). Khadyka says the organizers of the rally did not have such a sum.

6:30 pm

Syargei Vysotski, the head of the organizing committee to create the Belarusian Freedom Party, and his colleagues said they were forming the movement “New Belarus against Astravets NPP”. The initiators out on yellow plastic coats. Police tried to stop Syarhei's speech and detain him, but people beat Vysotski back. He is collecting signatures against the NPP construction.

6:35 pm

The activists of Tell the Truth campaign are carrying out a performance. The laid white bread, sweets and condensed milk offering demonstrators to help themselves, but warning it might be dangerous because all these products were made in contaminated regions, “Salidarnast” writes.

6:36 pm

The column of some hundreds people (from 500 to 800) began to move.

6:38 pm

People hold national white-red-white flags and chant “Long Live Belarus“ and “Freedom!” demanding to release political prisoners.

6:40 pm

Alyaksei Yanukevich and Ryhor Kastusyou head the column carrying an icon of the Mother of God “Victims of Chernobyl”. A long 6-metre white-red-white flag was unfurled.

6:41 pm

The column is crossing the road and turning to Surhanau Street. Road police and riot police stopped traffic.

6:43 pm

People are chanting “We believe! We can! We win!”. “Freedom to political prisoners!” demanding to release all prisoners of the regime.

6:46 pm

People are walking on the pavements. Police forbid to step on the carriageway. The number of participantshas  increased to 3,000.

6:48 pm

Activists of European Belarus civil campaign are chanting “Long live Belarus!” through megaphones. Plainclothes KGB officers are filming demonstrators paying special attention to the activists interviewed by journalists.

7:00 pm

Some parts of Surhanau Street are being repaired, but police do not allow demonstrators to walk on the carriageway.

The column has 500 metres in length.

7:05 pm

People in mufti are filming identification numbers of the cars honking to the rally.

Wheelchaired people and women with children and posters “One Chernobyl is enough” are noticed in the column. People spread information about construction of the Astravets NPP and boycott of the “parliamentary elections”.

7:13 pm

A white-red-white flag was hung out on a balcony on Surhanau Street.

7:15 pm

Representatives of Ecodrom organization came with a dummy and a poster “Astravets NPP? No, thank you”.

7:27 pm

People are waving white-red-white flags on balconies. Participants of the rally continues to chant “Long live Belarus!”

7:41 pm

The column reached Kuibyshau Street. People broughg lots of flags, banners and posters, including humourous ones such as “Batka [Lukashenka] goes mushrooming” depicting nuclear mushroom cloud.

7:47 pm

The column is approaching Bangalore Square. The number of participants decreased. Polices cars and minibuses with tinted windows but without identification numbers are arriving at the square.

7:55 pm

Demonstrators reached the Peoples' Friendship Park. Organizers say they failed to find sound amplifying equipment, so speakers will have to use megaphones.

8:00 pm

The square is enclosed with crowd control barriers with four checking points. Police check people's bags.

Dzmitry Kaspyarovich tried to carry a banner “No to NPP”, but policemen seized it and threw in a waste bin.

8:06 pm

Humiliating search procedures discourage people from walking through the barriers.

8.12 p.m.

The sound-amplifying equipment, taken the organisers on lease from an individual entrepreneur for holding the meeting, is detained. As BelaPAN was informed by one of the applicants of the rally, a representative of a public association Ecodom, Tatsyana Novikava, the contract for the equipment lease was made with the individual entrepreneur basing upon the decision of Minsk city executive committee which authorized holding the demonstration and the meeting. moreover, as noted by Novikava, last week at the meeting with the organisers of Chernobyl Way, deputy head of the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs of Minsk city executive committee Ihar Yauseeu assured them that there would be no problems with equipment, in case all documents legalized properly. However a few minutes before the meeting, the equipment was nevertheless detained by police and taken to the police department of Savetski district.

As explained by policemen, they were set to check both the documents and the equipment. As said by Novikava, the businessmen who had leased the equipment, was taken to the police department as well. Tatsyana Novikava stressed that no one had warned the organizers that such a check would be held. On Thus, she stated, the situation on Freedom Day is repeated, when at the supreme moment, right before the beginning of the meeting, sound amplifying equipment was seized from the organizers of the meeting.

8.20 p.m.

The meeting on Bangalore Square has started. Speakers use low-power megaphones.

8.25 p.m.

Yury Khadyka starts his speech. He apologizes as sound amplifying equipment had not been allowed to be used again. He offered to honour the memory of Professor Nestsyarenka, who was the first to run to the building of the Communist Party of Belarus and told about the catastrophe, and also the memory of Professor Ivan Nikitchanka, who had perished. People venerated their memory by a one-minute silence.

8.30 p.m.

Tatsyana Novikava addresses the meeting. She says that since 2006 Belarusian authorities in fact do not offer truthful information about the aftermaths of Chernobyl. She stressed that nuclear power energy is abandoned all over the world, that is why the Belarusian nation should withstand construction of Astravets nuclear power plant.

8.32 p.m.

The leader of the Belarusian Popular Front Alyaksei Yanukevich turned attention to the fact that there had never been a national power in Belarus, neither in 1986, when Chernobyl exploded, and radiation clouds were made to set in Belarus, nor now when the authorities hush up aftermaths of Chernobyl catastrophe and are planning to construct a new nuclear power plant.

8.37 p.m.

Mikalai Dzemidzenka, the Young Front representative, has appeared. He said that his associates had been thinking over the slogan for the meeting for a long time, and then he silently unfurled a poster: “Sasha [Alyaksandr], are you a fool?”

8.48 p.m.

Young Front members started to launch white lanterns into the sky.

Mikalai Ulasevich from Astravets started his speech. He told that half an hour ago there was a search in his house in Astravets, while Ulasevich himself was visiting Astravets region together with Lyabedzka. “We must say no to the nuclear power plant, a Russian version of a nuclear power plant is not a solution to our problem,” Ulasevich believes.

Policemen in uniform went up to the stage, approached the co-chairman of the Belarusian Christian Democracy, Dzyanis Sadouski, and ask him to end the meeting, as the time was over. Sadouski said the last speaker was going to address the meeting.

The speaker, Nina Yarmolenka, noted that the country has not only ecology problems, but political problems as well. Political prisoners are kept behind the bars.

8.54 p.m.

The meeting is over. Some people disband, while part of them goes to the chapel in order to lit candles and lay flowers.