Two women join hunger strike in Babruisk

A hunger strike goes on in Babruisk.

Four workers who were fired from the plant of tractor parts and units want to be reinstated at work. Members of the Belarusian Free Trade Union Mikalai Zhybul, Aliaksandr Hramyka, Aliaksandr Varankin and Aleh Shauchenka think they were fired for their membership in the trade union. They came to the city administration headquarters in Lenin Square on the second day of their hunger strike. They say it's all quiet in the square, Radio Svaboda reports.

The protesters received summonses today to visit a police station. They think they will be charged with administrative offences. The activists were invited for a meeting with the head of the city executive committee on November 12.

Two women – plant worker Aksana Kernazhytskaya and librarian Sviatlana Hrytsenka – joined the hunger strike.

The librarian says she joined the strike to express her solidarity with the workers:

“I know what it means to be fired. I had this experience. I went to a court and was reinstated at work. I want the sacked trade union members to be allowed to work at the plant again.”

Henadzy Labanau stopped the hunger strike due to a hypertensive crisis. He was diagnosed with high blood pressure at the first-aid station at the plant.

The fired trade union members announced an open-end hunger strike in Lenin Square on November 11. They were detained two hours later. The police talked to them and released. Police officers warned them against protests. Two journalists were detained together with the workers. They were warned the protesters would be charged with administrative offences if information about the hunger strike appeared in the media.