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"When I Come to Roma's Grave, There Are Always Fresh Flowers and Lamps There"

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"When I Come to Roma's Grave, There Are Always Fresh Flowers and Lamps There"
Alena Bandarenka
Photo: tut.by

The mother of the killed Hero of Belarus, Alena Bandarenka, spoke about the support from the Belarusians.

Alena Bandarenka, the mother of the murdered Raman Bandarenka, waited three months before the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Belarus opened a criminal case on the death of her son on February 18, 2021. Raman, 31, died after being beaten by unknown persons on November 12, 2020, when he went out into the courtyard of his house to see who was cutting white-red-white ribbons from the fence.

And although the Belarusian authorities insisted that Raman was drunk at the time of the incident, his analyzes suggest otherwise. For divulging medical secrets about "zero ppm of alcohol" in Bandarenka's blood, doctor Artsiom Sarokin and journalist of tut.by Katsiaryna Barysevich became defendants in a criminal case that the court recently began to consider.

Deutsche Welle met and talked with Raman Bandarenka's mother Alena about the initiation of a criminal case on the death of her son, public support, and the trial of Barysevich and Sarokin.

- Tell us how you learned about the initiation of a criminal case into the death of your son?

- I learned about the initiation of a criminal case from my lawyer, she got a call from the Prosecutor General's Office. Then I myself called the Prosecutor General's Office and asked if this was true. I was told that yes, it is true, the case was opened.

This came as a surprise to me, because a very long time passed, more than three months. I had been waiting for this for a very long time, and every day the hope was melting because many different events were happening around, and there were a vacuum and silence regarding my son. So when it happened, it was unexpected.

- Why do you think the criminal case was opened right now?

- I think that the initiation of the criminal case was influenced by the fact that the doctor Artsiom Sarokin and the journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich are currently being tried (they are being tried for divulging medical secrets about the state of health of Raman Bandarenka. - ed.). It seems to me that these events are connected. After all, there was information from government agencies and the Investigative Committee that Raman was drunk, that alcohol was found in his blood. I don't want it to stay that way because it's not true. There were tests that proved otherwise.

- Why, in your opinion, are the authorities focusing on the fact that Raman was allegedly drunk?

- I think because it makes it easier to write off the whole incident as a hooligan fight or on something everyday and insignificant and remove the political emphasis.

- How is communication with the investigation going now?

- I can tell you how the check was carried out on the fact of the death of my son. It was in early December, I was twice at the Prosecutor General's Office - once for two hours, another time for five hours. They asked a lot of questions about what Raman was like, starting almost from the cradle. What he was fond of, what he did, what habits he had, what kind of person he was, how he communicated with those around him - this was exactly what the questions were about.

After that, there was a big break, an information vacuum from mid-December to the end of February. Well, at the moment, the criminal case is open, but what will happen next, how the investigation will be conducted, I do not know. Surely they will take a nondisclosure agreement from me when they invite me to the Prosecutor General's Office, so for now I have the opportunity to tell you about this, I am talking about it.

- What do you expect from the investigation?

- I expect honesty and fairness. Whoever these people are who kidnapped and beat my son to death, I believe that they should be punished in accordance with the law that exists in our country. I hope that these people will be found and brought to justice.

- Where do you get the strength to continue to fight for justice for your son?

- It's hard for me to say; I sometimes look at myself from the outside and ask myself where I get my strength. This is some kind of inner feeling, energy, and confidence that everything I do is right, and if, God forbid, a similar situation happened to me, Roma would do the same and even more. I do this in memory of his bright name.

- What was the most difficult for you during this time?

- Accepting the fact that Roma is gone. It was very hard before the funeral in the first 9 days - Roma was buried on the ninth day, and not on the third, as is customary in the Christian world. I think all these 9 days it was very difficult to remain human when something terrible is happening around you; I felt like in some kind of detective tv show. The most difficult thing was to remain calm and maintain a certain line of behavior, it was necessary to have firmness in order to simply complete what I had begun, just to bury my son, as my family and I wanted.

- Almost all of Belarus grieved about your son. Did you expect such a reaction?

- No, I did not expect such a reaction; for me, it was something incredible and fantastic. I never thought that so many people would sympathize and empathize with my grief and the grief of my family. It was amazing for me.

I felt the support of people from the very first day when the guys came to me who informed me that Roma was in the hospital, and I still feel it from complete strangers. I receive a lot of letters, poems, and songs from all over the world and from Belarus.

When I come to Roma's cemetery, his grave is always cleaned, the snow is cleared, although now it is a very snowy winter. There are always fresh flowers and lamps burning. I see that people are not indifferent, they are very worried and try to express their support and empathy to me. I am very grateful to them for that.

- Recently, the trial began against the journalist of tut.by Katsiaryna Barysevich and the doctor Artsiom Sarokin, who, according to the investigation, divulged the medical secret that Raman's blood contained zero ppm of alcohol. What do you think about the trial of them?

- I can't say much about the case of Artsiom Sarokin and Katsiaryna Barysevich because I signed a non-disclosure agreement, I was summoned to court and I was a witness (the trial was declared closed. - ed.). But in general, I think that the profession of a journalist is one of the most dangerous in Belarus now. These people were just doing their job, fulfilling their professional duties, but in some incredible way, ended up in the dock.

I hope there are a fair investigation and an honest verdict. I would like these people to be free and continue to work professionally in their place - Artsiom is an anesthesiologist in the hospital, and Katerina would be engaged in journalism. These are decent people, and I believe that they should be useful to society.

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