Aliaksandr Abliak: It Turns Out Opposite – Even More People Protest In Brest

Environmental campaigns have long become political.

On April 14, several hundred people came out to protest against the battery factory near Brest. Despite the fact that the protesters tried to defend their comrades from people in civilian clothes, seven march participants were taken to the temporary detention center. One of the detainees, Aliaksandr Abliak, explained live on Belsat, why the authorities started to act more harshly – and what the results were.

Brest resident Aliaksandr Abliak, who became the leader of the protest last Sunday, said on the air of the Hot Comment that the arrests on April 14 were the authorities’ attempt to “intimidate people so that they would not take to the streets and the protests would end.”

The Brest resident explains the persecution of Siarhei Piatrukhin, who faces an arrest for two years with serving the term at the place of residence, by to the authorities' desire to prevent the blogger from covering the protest campaign and participating in it.

According to the activist, the environmental rallies against the construction of the battery factory have long become political.

“The behavior of the authorities and the “law enforcers” testifies to the fact that politics is involved here. Moreover, the authorities themselves are pulling us there,” – Abliak says.

The activist is confident that mass events of the last weeks are the result of the authorities’ actions.

“They are trying to intimidate us, but the opposite is happening: even more people come to protest,” – Aliaksandr Abliak adds.