BCD activist makes bus driver remove Russian flag

Activist Ales Kutasau, who asked a bus driver to take out a small Russian flag from the windscreen of the bus going from Kalodzishchy to Minsk, was detained.

Ales Kutasau waited for the first stop to ask the driver to remove the flag, but the latter replied rudely. The activist said he wouldn't pay for travel only unless the flag of the neighbouring state was removed, the press service of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party (BCD) reports.

Ales was taken to a bus depot and handed over to the police. The activist heard threats all the way to the bus depot. A conductor said Ales conducted disorderly and almost entered the driver's cab, but refused to give evidence against him. The driver finally removed the flag.

They said on the way to a police station they didn't like that Ales Kutasau spoke Belarusian. According to them, there's no such language as Belarusian. They said the so called trasianka (a mixture of Belarusian and Russian) was a real language and Russia was Belarus's closest ally. The activist replied the Russian flag was a symbol of occupation, so if the bus belonged to the state and was paid by citizens, also through taxes, there must be no such things on public transport.

Ales Kutasau spent 10 minutes at the police station. Policemen allowed him to go home and placed a mark that they had an explanatory conversation. The activist filed a complaint to Minsktrans, the Minsk company reposnible for public transport.