Belarus Daily | 26 Jan

BYSOL launched the Emergency Relocation program; employees of state-owned enterprises are threatened and blackmailed to sign an open letter against EU sanctions; court sent a 66-year-old woman with cancer to prison for 14 days; security officials came to the independent publication Binokl

26 January 2021 | BYHelp-Mediagroup
 Protesting residents of Vileika. The caption is “I’m going out” which has become the symbol of protest.
Source: TUT.BY

BYSOL / Belarus solidarity foundation is ready to help in cases of emergency relocation

“What should those who do not have enough money for a ticket do if there is no time for hesitation? Let’s say, if a court order prohibiting to leave the country has been handed out, and there are about three days until the documents get into the database. In general, the cost of emergency travel can go up to $ 1200-1400 per person. Now we can also help with these kind of emergencies! And a separate fundraiser appeared on the fund’s website, which is appropriately called ‘Emergency relocation’,” says the Fund’s Facebook page. 

All additional information, both if one wishes to help and in case one needs assistance, can be found in @saccidānanda telegram. 

“Your donation is someone’s real chance to avoid going to jail because of a fabricated case,” concludes BYSOL Foundation.

Source: facebook.com/BYSOL

People are threatened and blackmailed to sign an open letter against sanctions

Employees of various organizations and enterprises report that they are forced to sign the Federation of Trade Unions’ open letter addressed to the International Labor Organization. 

“European politicians seem to believe that they have the right to restrict and infringe on the rights of workers in other countries. It turns out that we should be left without work and wages. How, in this case, can we support our families, teach our children? We call on the workers of other countries to show solidarity and influence their governments which, by applying economic sanctions, have actually engaged in economic blackmail and violated the foundations of international law.”

“White Robes” telegram channel claims that at least 50% of employees must sign the letter. In order to achieve that a simple and effective trio of blackmail, threats, and bribery is used.

Orthodox priests who had expressed their civic position were not included in the new missionary department

The names of priest Aliaksandr Kukhta, who vouched for Ihar Losik on January 20, as well as priest Siarhei Tsimashenkau, who criticized the meeting of Metropolitan Veniamin with Alexander Lukashenko in November and supported the anthem “Magutny Bozha”, a spiritual symbol of Belarusian protests, are not in the updated list of the missionary department of the Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC). 

In addition, archpriest Siarhei Tsimashenkau was removed from his post as head of the Synodal Missionary Department of the BOC “due to the heavy workload and some other circumstances”. 

It means that just as the ministers of the Orthodox Church in Belarus are not able to remain aloof from the current events, the Church, as a public institution, decides how to react to the actions of its ministers.

Source: church.by

Chief infectious disease specialist in Minsk lost his job

Doctor Mikita Salavei is no longer the chief consulting infectious disease specialist of the Health Committee of the Minsk City Executive Committee. He has been occupying this position since December 2016. 

Mikita Salavei is one of the most famous Belarusian infectious disease specialists. More than once he conducted online tutorials on the coronavirus infection prevention, vaccination, and the course of the disease.

In November 2020 Mikita Salavei became a member of the Coordination Council.

He also repeatedly spoke about the state of healthcare workers during the current political situation in Belarus, including posts on his Facebook page.

Source: TUT.BY

A senior citizen with an oncological disease was sentenced to 14 days of arrest; a Minsk resident received 2 years of the open prison for verbally insulting a press secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

A suffering from glaucoma (in remission after cancer) 66-year-old senior citizen received 14 days of arrest. According to Zoya Karotkina, she was detained when having a conversation with an acquaintance on the central Minsk avenue. According to a witness wearing a balaclava and with a fictitious name Aliaksandr Aliaksandrau the woman allegedly was standing with protest symbols displaying the Victory hand gesture. The court’s decision was not influenced by the fact that the woman had poor health. 

A Minsk resident received 2 years of an open prison and a fine of 5,000 rubles (1,500 euros) for insulting the press secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Volha Chamadanava, in a telegram chat. The victim stated that the message brought her mental and physical suffering and even made it necessary to take medication to calm herself down.

Zoya Karotkina.
Source: Onliner

The Brest independent publication Binokl was visited for an inspection. The equipment was seized, the publisher was detained 

The publisher of Binokl had his apartment searched under the suspicions of tax evasion on an especially large scale. They seized laptops, flash drives, telephones, and prints. 

Also, the search was conducted in the apartment of the director of Binokl. Then they seized documents and equipment in the office of the publisher’s spouse. The inspection of several legal entities connected to a family is being carried out as well. Several years worth of documents, notebooks, and stamps were seized. 

Binokl is an independent online magazine that covers the social and cultural life of the city of Brest. The journalists who work with this publication have been detained several times while covering the 2020 protests.

Photo of the office after inspection.
Source: baj.by

For more information on the events of 26 January 2021, please visit Infocenter Free Belarus 2020: