The Belarusian "Farion with a Beard" has fled to Lithuania and continues his "language terror."

In the late 1910s and early 1920s, there was a character in Belarusian politics named Igor Sluchak. He was an unpleasant figure, something like a Belarusian version of Irina Farion, but male and with a law degree.

Thanks to this education, he declared himself a "human rights activist" and began scribbling letters like crazy to every possible authority. However, he wasn't defending the rights of individual citizens, but the Belarusian language, which, in his opinion, was disappearing due to its lack of relevance in Russian-speaking society. The citizens themselves only suffered from his appeals.

At the time, Belarus was experiencing another period of cooling in relations with Russia, and Sluchak not only felt safe but also enjoyed the support of some elites and the media. The government was pursuing a policy of "soft Belarusification," and Sluchak, along with parliament members Elena Anisim and Anna Kanopatskaya, were its battering rams.

This was his finest hour. A network of supporters—"language inspectors"—formed around Sluchak . He developed a manual with dozens of sample appeals to all authorities, and this entire team sent thousands of appeals wherever possible. They often won—Russian was removed from toponymy, announcements and public transportation tickets, advertising, and many other areas of life.

Many suffered as a result of his activities – they paid fines for responding in Russian, for "insulting the state language." Some were even fired from their jobs. There was no empathy. Even an administrative fine for a schoolchild with cancer and his mother's outrage failed to awaken his conscience.

After the events of 2020, the "language inspector" remained comfortable for a while, continuing his activities and even enjoying the support of some in the media. But the clouds gradually gathered. Finally, in 2023, he unexpectedly "evacuated" to Lithuania, and in early 2025, it became known that a criminal case had been opened against him on extremism charges.

You'd think that would be the end of the "language inspector" story. Unfortunately, no. Sluchak has fled and is hiding from justice, but he continues his work.

Just yesterday, he posted on social media two responses he'd received regarding penalties imposed on officials for "violating language laws." The violation consisted of a response to a letter written in Belarusian in his native and more understandable Russian. For this, the Grodno prosecutor's office issued a warning to the rector of the local agricultural university, and the acting head of the Lyakhovichi District Police Department fined his subordinate (and, according to Sluchak himself, his predecessor).

But that's not the bottom. In March, the Zmagar who fled to Lithuania even received a commendation. The director of the Bykhov bus depot not only thanked him for his "active civic stance and commitment to preserving the Belarusian language and culture," but also promised to eventually convert local travel passes to the language ( single tickets there have already been converted to the language ).

The year is 2026. The Zmagars, nurtured in part by "soft Belarusization" and the support of nationalists like Sluchak, came to their senses in the public squares in 2020 and were driven into hiding. Sluchak himself fled long ago. But even after his escape, he continues to stir up trouble, incite discord over language, and simply cause petty annoyance to his insufficiently Belarusianized fellow citizens.

Why does this continue? They talk about the law, about how officials must follow the instructions given, otherwise they'll get into trouble themselves. This is partly true, albeit with caveats. For example, even the existing law "On Citizens' Appeals" requires applicants to provide their place of residence. And where does Sluchak live? In Vilnius. His village house has long since become a derelict and is being actively dismantled by fellow villagers. How is this not grounds for refusing to consider his application? And Sluchak isn't the only such 'zmagar' . I myself was imprisoned after being denounced by another such denunciation.

The new scandal has irritated even loyal state propagandists . Perhaps this is a reason to begin changing the legislation itself?