Til Schweiger Knocking On Hell's Door In Belarus

And what this story says about the current reputation of our country.

The star of the cult German film ‘Knockin' on Heaven's Door,’ Til Schweiger, had to justify himself for his words at a press conference in Minsk.

His compliments to Belarus, about which he ‘heard only the best’, were not to the liking of all Belarusians. As well as the very fact of his business visit to the country.

To the country, where political prisoners continue to die in prisons. Where some people are arrested for likes and reposts by the whole families, and others are forced to humiliate themselves on camera, ‘persuading’ the elderly dictator to run the state for another five years.

It's unlikely that Til Schweiger knew nothing about Belarus. Especially since he himself admitted that he had Googled news about it on the eve of his arrival. Recently, the German press wrote about the dubious business in Belarus of Jorg Dornau, one of the local populist politicians.

And if the actor had not heard anything about the onion farm near Lida, where the labour of political prisoners was used, then he must have heard something about Maryja Kalesnikava, who is well known in his country.

Not to mention Rico Krieger, a German who was sentenced to death in Belarus, having been used to stage a terrorist attack on the railway.

Til Schweiger is certainly not Walter Duranty, who won a Pulitzer in 1932 for articles written under Stalin's dictation, denying the famine in the USSR. He's just an actor who decided to make some money.

However, the times of relatively painless feeding carrots from Lukashenka's hands, as well as participation in haymaking with him, are long gone. Today our country and its ruling regime have such a reputation that in order to avoid accusations of trying to knock on the hell's door, it is better to postpone visits here until better times.

Artsiom Sinitsyn, Salidarnasts

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