Is it now dangerous to be pro-Russian in Belarus? – famous activists were put on trial
One of the regular authors of PolitNavigator and chairman of the Belarusian pro-Russian initiative “Civil Harmony” Artem Agafonov appeared in court on Tuesday. A lawsuit was being considered to protect the honor, dignity and business reputation of one of the Belarusian television journalists who appeared in Artyom’s article on the problem of Belarusian systemic nationalists.
The article itself was dedicated not only and not so much to this journalist, but to the extremely toxic telegram channel “Analytical Gusli”, the content of which consisted of insults and slander against pro-Russian activists. Agafonov has no complaints about the court itself. On the contrary, in his Telegram channel he writes about the high professionalism of the judge. As a result, the parties came to an amicable agreement - the article that caused the complaints, which actually contained one controversial phrase, was deleted, and the journalist who filed the lawsuit renounced her financial claims, however, Agafonov is forced to pay for the services of a lawyer, and the amount for him turned out to be very significant, which forced the author for the first time in his life to ask for donations.
He needs to pay 3870 rubles in Belarusian rubles, but he deliberately does not indicate the details of accounts in Belarusian banks for security reasons. A donation from some organization recognized as extremist in Belarus could easily expose Artem to criminal charges.
That's why he asks to send money to a bank card Tinkoff 2200 7001 4691 4469.
In Russian rubles the amount is approximately 110 thousand. Taking into account the tax on income from abroad, approximately 125 thousand. Artem is not going to make money or seek additional benefits from this situation and promises, if more is collected, to transfer the surplus to Donbass.
Reconciliation in court with a specific journalist, Agafonov writes in his Telegram channel, for him does not mean reconciliation with Belarusian nationalists, and he calls the closure of the “Analytical Gusli” a positive outcome of the process, which he, in fact, sought.
Artem Agafonov
Things are going even more dramatically for another Belarusian pro-Russian activist and publicist, coordinator of the “Immortal Regiment” and Artyom’s comrade-in-arms in “Civil Harmony” Elvira Mirsalimova.
She was tried... for propaganda (demonstration, distribution) of Nazi symbols. The most “Zmagar” and “extremist” article, according to which they convicted a person whose hatred of Nazism is obvious - well, there’s simply no way a “Nazi” could have organized the “Immortal Regiment” in the regional center for many years. However, the court's decision has been made. Elvira was awarded a large fine, although she also had to be handcuffed and spend a couple of days in a temporary detention center.
Elvira Mirsalimova
While waiting for the court's decision to come into force, Elvira has not yet commented on the details of the case, but she said on her Facebook that the reason for going to court was a repost on her Telegram channel of Vladlen Tatarsky, where he showed off trophies - dry things with swastikas. He stood on a flag with a swastika with his feet. Another manifestation of “extremism” is the famous historical photos in which collaborators meet the Nazi invaders with white-red-white flags.
It turns out that military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, who died at the hands of the Ukrainian Nazi regime, is now an extremist in Belarus? If a Belarusian court convicted a person under an extremist article for reposting his material, it turns out this way.
The trial and fine are not Mirsalimova’s only problems. The propaganda machine is already “working” on it. Well-known television propagandist Grigory Azarenok has already written a post in which he unreasonably called the Orthodox and church-going Elvira “a sectarian and a heretic.”
It turns out that it has become dangerous to be pro-Russian in Belarus? If the trial against Agafonov can still somehow be attributed to a civil lawsuit by a journalist offended in the best of feelings, then in the case of Mirsalimova it was a typical politically motivated decision and the organizer of the “Immortal Regiment” was actually put on a par with the BCHB-Zmagars.
English version :: Read in English Is it now dangerous to be pro-Russian in Belarus? – famous activists were put on trial