"She Walked With Her Head Held High"

Here are stories of girls whose photos after the Brilliant March scattered across the Web.

According to human rights activists, on Saturday, September 19, more than 300 participants of the women's march were detained. But this action was remembered not only by the mass grabber: the photographers took a lot of pictures, which were actively distributed on the Web. The tut.by journalists found the girls from these emotional shots and learned their stories.

Veranika: "In the comments under the picture they wrote that I am the wife of an AMAP official, but I am not"

Veranika Kharuzhaja is 26 years old. She is a copywriter. On the way to the paddy wagon, the girl offered the AMAP official, who was leading her to the car, to take him by the arm - and proudly walked with him along the necessary route. She speaks of the idea of modifying the scene of detentions familiar to Belarusians as follows: "Everything happened spontaneously."

- When we walked with the column along Surhanava Street, we saw that the police van drove up. We were divided into small groups and pressed against the walls of the Iceberg shopping center, recalls Veranika. "I was in the middle, there was nowhere to run, so I said: "Don't touch me, I'll go to the paddy wagon myself." The riot policeman took me by the hand and led me to the car. I thought I could replay this situation a little and get out of it with dignity. I asked if I could take his arm, he replied: "Yes, of course." And we walked beautifully to the paddy wagon. The only thing missing was the red carpet.

- Was there no fear?

- No, - Veranika answers without hesitation. - Everyone who goes out on the march understands: they can get detained, and then - the paddy wagon and the police department.

The girl does not hide that she went on marches before. She decided that if they detain her, she will not resist, run away, too, if she notices the paddy wagon nearby, she will not leave. "It is not in vain," he says, "we repeat: One for all and all for one."

The situation in her paddy wagon, Veranika continues, was calm. The security forces that Saturday, she said, "were good cops." The detainees' phones were not taken away, so the girl managed to call her mother. She warned about the detention. Mom reacted calmly to the situation. She knows about her daughter's civil position and supports it.

- Two AMAP officials were traveling with us in the paddy wagon. At some point, we got to talking with them. We talked about salaries and taxes. One of them said that his mother is a businesswoman. The girls were interested in why he works in the AMAP. But I didn't hear what he said.

The girl was brought to the Maskouski police department. The policeman told the relatives of the detained that evening: 27 people were brought to their office. Everyone was taken to the assembly hall; they looked at belongings, fingerprinted, and photographed.

- I was asked one of the last, asked where I was, what I was doing. I asked to give me a copy of the protocol, but they refused me - recalls Veranika. - I, like everyone who was detained for the first time, was released.

In the police department, Veranika counted, she spent 5.5 hours. A girlfriend was waiting for her at the exit from the police building. She showed Veranika a photo of her detention. By that time, the snapshot had already spread across social networks.

"Friends and even friends of friends wrote to me; everyone sent it," the girl says with a smile. - They sent funny "memes." Some took me for one of the women who performed at the pro-government concert. In the comments under the picture, they wrote that I am the wife of an AMAP official. But no, I'm not the wife of an AMAP official, and I never will.

- Do you plan to continue going to marches?

- Yes. After school, I studied and lived in Poland for six years, and a couple of years ago, I returned to Belarus. Many people ask me: "Why?". I answer: "Because this is my home, my land. And I would very much like to build Belarus from which no one wants to leave."

Natasha's sister, who was sent for "a day": "Even in the paddy wagon she goes with her head held high"

Since Monday morning, Natallia Petukhova's relatives have been on duty at the Partyzanski District Court. Here Natasha was supposed to be tried - but the process unexpectedly took place in the Frunzenski District Court.

"The lawyer has already written a complaint about this situation," says Natallia's sister, Alena Petukhova. - Let's see what they say to us.

Natallia Petukhova is another hero of a bright photo from the women's march. She is 32 years old; she is a tour guide. On Saturday, Natasha was taken from the police department to the temporary detention facility in Akrestsina Street. By court order, she will spend another 15 days in the cell.

- That day, Natasha and I were going to go to the action together, but she seemed to feel something; at some point, she said: "That's it, I'm leaving in 20 minutes" - and went without me, - Alena returns to those events. - In the evening, she called me from the paddy wagon. She warned me not to worry; she's doing well. She asked me to hand over the lenses and "not to carry out any rescue operations."

But the "rescue operation" was launched immediately. An acquaintance who was not far from the Iceberg shopping center immediately went there. He found a paddy wagon where, presumably, Natallia was, and, hoping to understand where the friend would be taken, went after him. But, as it turned out later, he chose the wrong car. After a while, the tour guide again called her sister and said that she was in the Partyzanski district police department.

Natallia was at the police station for the second time. For the first time in the "minibus," she and Alena got together. This happened after the arrest on Masherava Avenue - then, the sisters went to the action in support of Maryja Kalesnikava.

- That day, they detained me and our friend, but they did not want to take Natasha. She broke into the bus by herself, said: "There is my sister," Alena describes the situation here. - The road to the police department that evening seemed endless. In the car, one of the security officials began to beat my friend. I covered him with my legs. The uniformed man said not to interfere, but I did not back down. Then he hit me twice in the face. Natasha was hit too. It seemed to me that their emotional state was not very stable - normal behavior could quickly change to aggression.

On the same evening, the sisters were taken to Akrestsina Street. The next day, both received the same punishment - 30 basic salaries each - and were released. At that time, they were met from the IVS by a large support group - relatives and friends. The friends were very worried about the girls. On the day of their arrest, one of the friends spent the night under the police building, and the second even climbed a tree to see when the sisters would be taken to the isolation ward.

This time a lot of close people also came to the Partyzanski District Department of Internal Affairs. Everyone understood that the detention was repeated, so Natallia would hardly be released that evening. And so it happened.

- Why did Natasha continue to attend rallies after the first arrest?

"Despite the arrest, my sister and I have not changed our views," Alena explains. "We were raised with a keen sense of justice. The injustice that is now happening in our country cannot leave you indifferent. Election day was a holiday for us. We hoped that our votes would be counted honestly, but at the polling station for Natasha, they drew up a campaigning protocol - and her vote was not taken into account.

- Why?

- When she threw the ballot, she said: "For Cikhanouskaja!" This was considered agitation, although there were no voters nearby - only the commission and observers.

- How did you feel when you saw your sister's photo, which was distributed on social networks?

- By that time, I already knew about her detention. Therefore, when I came across this picture, I thought: "Even to the paddy wagon, she walks with her head held high."