Arson case, year 2009

The case related to the setting on fire a policeman’s house would fall to pieces in the same way as the Reichstag fire case did.

When a week ago all TV channels showed us a news item about awful events in the village of Pukhavichy, Homel region, where several local men killed one of their home folks, a criminal, in revenge for threats to the village dwellers and sat their property on fire, as the Belarusian TV claimed, it was clear from the start that it was not an ordinary report, but a “TV series” with sequel. BT reporters were questioning dwellers of this village too closely, and rural “Pugachevs” were depicted as heroes too painstakingly. It’s not a secret that over the period of Lukashenka’s rule the Belarusian village has degraded greatly. Misery, total habitual drunkenness, domestic murders after drinking, rapes of 80-year-old women, thefts and robbery are unfortunately a tragic reality of today’s life in rural areas.

And all of a sudden lots of time is dedicated to the tragic story in the village of Pukhavichy, Zhytkavichy district. Then it occurred immediately that this topic was suggested with some intent, so that the attention of Belarusians would be distracted from the falling ruble, price hikes and closing enterprises. We were not mistaken. Yesterday the president joined hyping this story. He ordered to release the three possible murderers before the court trial, and addressed the judges asking them to be indulgent when considering this case. The question is, why indulgent, and not sticking to the laws?

Hours are dedicated to the “arson case” on air of state-run radio and TV channels already. Today it is top news for all newspapers and web sites. People in public transport and in the streets are discussing it.

But it looks as if the authorities want more. They decided to turn the informational campaign for distraction of attention from the economic catastrophe into a war against regime’s opponents. The day before the trial on conditional early release “former” political prisoners Autukhovich and Lyavonau (though they can hardly be called “former”, as on February 10 the court was to release them earlier for factitious crimes), with their friend Astapenka were arrested after an almost military operation, and charged with setting on fire a policeman’s house.

The aim of the informational war is the following: having previously hyped the topic of arsons, to connect arsons with opposition in mass consciousness. But neuro-linguistic programming won’t help the regime. They have made a mistake by choosing as a suspect Mikalay Autukhovich, a political prisoner, one of the leaders of businessmen movement and Afghan war veterans’ organisation. He is a man of cast-iron character and uncrushable will. That is why the Belarusian “arson case” is to fall to pieces in the same way as the Reichstag fire case of 1933, orchestrated by another European dictator, did.