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Opposition activist speaks about attack on her

 

Opposition activist Yuliya Stsyapanava spoke about an attack on her that took place in Minsk on the night between January 13 and 14.

As the member of an opposition group called European Belarus had just gotten off a bus and was walking home, she was assaulted by two unknown men.

Ms. Stsyapanava was pushed to the ground. "I thought that I was being arrested and would be handcuffed," she said. "They took off my hood and cut both ponytails off. I was told, 'So, bitch, have you collected leggings?"

Months before the attack Ms. Stsyapanava jokingly suggested collecting clothes for police, including black caps, tracksuits and jogging leggings.

"It's no secret that lately I have used social networking sites to collect aid for people who have suffered at the hands of the Lukashenka regime."

"Everything happened very quickly and I even had no time to get scared and realize what was going on."

"I planned to visit a police station the following day to submit a complaint. But a weird thing happened, police officers came to my place themselves, although I had not called them. They explained that they had learned about what had happened from the media. They tried to lure me out of my home by any means. I don't know what awaited me in their office. Anything can be expected from these people. I barely managed to make them leave," the activist said.

Ms. Stsyapanava said that she was unfazed by the attack. "I will continue doing what I did. This incident changed nothing in my life, I will not quit my activity," she said.

The activist noted that it would take her hair some 10 years to grow back to the length it had been before the attack. "I will probably have to change my haircut and style. I have never had a short haircut, so now I will try it," she said. //BelaPAN