English

Opposition activist displays white-red-white flag outside courthouse in Vitsyebsk

Syarhey Kavalenka, who was scheduled to stand trial at a district court in Vitsyebsk on Tuesday for putting an opposition white-red-white flag on top of the city’s tallest Christmas tree on January 7, unfurled a white-red-while flag outside the courthouse after he had been told that that his trial had to be postponed until May 12 because of the judge’s family reasons.

Right after leaving the courthouse, Mr. Kavalenka raised the flag above his head, greeted reporters and shouted, "Long live Belarus! I’ll stand trial for this flag!"

A security officer told Mr. Kavalenka to put the flag down, but he kept waving it. In a matter of minutes, several police vehicles arrived at the scene and, after a brief verbal altercation, Mr. Kavalenka was arrested and driven to the Kastrychnitski district police station. Six opposition activists, including Paval Sevyarynets, co-chairman of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party, were grabbed near the police department after they had arrived there to show their support for their associate.

Those six activists were soon released without a charge, but Mr. Kavalenka was not and was charged with acting in violation of regulations governing street demonstrations under Article 23.34 of the Administrative Offenses Code.

As Mr. Sevyarynets told BelaPAN, Mr. Kavalenka will stand trial on the charge on April 21.

On January 7, Mr. Kavalenka climbed the 130-foot (40-meter) high collapsible Christmas tree and placed the historically national flag on top of it before the eyes of hundreds of people who were present in Vitsyebsk’s downtown Victory Square, which was for the first time made the city’s main venue for New Year/Christmas celebrations.

Mr. Kavalenka was arrested after he descended the tree and the 6x12-foot flag remained on the tree for 15 minutes before it was removed by emergency workers with the help of an aerial ladder.

Mr. Kavalenka spent five days in detention and then was released on his own recognizance.

He was initially charged with persistent hooliganism, an offense that carries a penalty of a “restricted freedom” term of up to five years or imprisonment for up to six years under Part Two of the Criminal Code’s Article 339.
He was later charged with “deliberate actions that grossly disturb the public order and show evident contempt of society” under Part One of Article 339, which provides for imprisonment for up to three years, and with resisting police officers, which is penalized by Article 363 and carries a penalty of between two and five years in prison.

Between 1991 and 1994, the white-red-white flag was one of the state symbols of Belarus. In a controversial 1995 national referendum, held on President Alyaksandr Lukashenka`s initiative, 75 percent voted for replacing the white-red-white flag by a Soviet-style red-green flag, with 65 percent of those eligible taking part in the vote.

Pressing for replacing the white-red-white flag, Mr. Lukashenka explained that this flag had been used by the Belarusian collaborators of the Nazis.

After the 1995 referendum, the flag became a symbol of opposition to the Lukashenka government and an indispensable attribute of street protests in the country.