Zmiter Bandarenka: «We know where we moving to and what we aiming at»

Charter’97 coordinator Zmiter Bandarenka summed up the European March taken place in Minsk 14 October.

- How do you appreciate the European March?

- In total, I appreciate the European March positively. We could demonstrate the main thing – if the position of Belarusian opposition and the European Union is strong and agreed, it is possible to make Lukashenka come round. The March was peaceful, though the Belarusian regime as any other dictatorship has suppression machinery able to break up any oppositional demonstration. Everybody saw that the authorities made concessions and permitted the opposition to gather on Kastrychnitskaya Square and pass along the Minsk streets. However it wasn’t be our authorities if they hadn’t acted in their usual way on the action’s eve – brutal and absurd. The main conclusion of the European March is: strong principal position of the European Union on the necessity of fulfillment of 12 well known proposals can lead to their fulfillment by the Belarusian authorities and first of all to the release of all the political prisoners. The fact that the authorities didn’t break up the European March is the evidence of keen interest of the regime in European help and economic cooperation.

- Are you satisfied with the number of the action participants?

- Everybody had great expectations. But in our conditions there exists two forms of the actions with absolutely different number of participants: the action authorized and the action banned. At this point I agree with Viktar Ivashkevich: we gave 30% that the authorities would agree to the dialog offered and if not support, wouldn’t hinder actively the march holding. But the authorities by the mass arrests, total lawlessness, when people were kidnapped in the streets and in their own flats demonstrated that the European march is a banned event. The people in universities, enterprises, schools were made to claim in written form under the threat of dismissal that they wouldn’t participate in the European March. The authorities aimed to demonstrate the rest of the world their pseudo liberalism but inside the country – to intimidate the citizens. That’s why those 7.000 people are heroes who came to the banned action, thanks and bow them for that.

- The Belarusian Television blamed the march young participants in hooliganism, saying that against all laws they went to the traffic way during the European March. What can you say about that?

- Lukashenka wanted to look a European ruler so much that he ordered to disguise the goons – riot police, in civvies, but the people were forced out of the traffic way to the overcrowded pavements by GAI (road police) battalions. In such a way they wanted to get in wrongly the opposition which didn’t walk on the pavements. But the Belarusian dictator wasn’t explained there are no marches and demonstrations on the pavements in Europe. That is in Belarus the organizers agree to move on the pavements in order not lead people to more repressions. But Lukashenka himself has never walked on the pavements, only with his sons in the middle of the avunue. Why, why Lukashenka’s sons are allowed to walk along the avenue on demonstrations, but other young people not?

- How do you comment some disorderliness of the European March participants, in particular splitting into two columns?

-In my opinion, these actions were provoked by secret services. The leaders of the Belarusian democratic youth Zmiter Dashkevich, Artur Finkevich, Mikita Sasim, Yauhen Afnahel and others are in prisons. Many of them were arrested on the march’s eve. The provocation with the column splitting was organized through pseudo radical youth groups. I would point out that the majority of the youth, rushed to the library are actually hot heads and true oppositionists. By the way, when the young people saw they were being led the wrong way, they were moving along the lonesome street, they turned back and joined the main column. But I don’t relieve us, grown up European march organizers of the responsibility. We found us not really ready for such provocation.

- The opinion sounded that a split between old and young opposition took place.

We offered the young radicals several times to demonstrate their force by themselves and organize an action in the form they want. But name even one more or less significant action organized by pseudo oppositional groups. They are just an instrument in the secret services hands. A couple of days before the march two pieces of news appeared on many sites. One was that an oppositionist Dzianis Dzianisau stole the money gathered as a bail for his release. At the same time I was also asked to give money as the bail for the release of the young man who was called leader of the youth organization BUNT (REVOLT). I refused as I know there is no such legal form of release as bailment in Belarus. The second piece of news was that a number of youth organizations including BUNT were not going to go to Bangalor Square during the European March. These two pieces of news stayed near it other. But for unknown reason there wasn’t information in the first one that Dzianis Dzianisau who stole the money is BUNT leader. So I concluded that the provocation on the march was organized by secret services.

- The European March took place. What are the plans of the opposition?

- It difficult for me to say for the whole opposition. But the pro-European forces will go on the informational campaign “European March”. The issue of 12 EU proposals fulfillment by Belarus and issue of Belarus integration to Europe will be a keystone of our activity. The breakdown of the Belarusian government-Gazprom negotiations on gas prices decrease and antiPutin Lukashenka’s declamation show the course on the relations with Europe normalization is becoming the main one for the authorities, too. Without the democratization of the life in our country, without the release of Belarusian prisoners of consciences, without free and honest election the today’s authorities won’t receive the help from the EU. That’s why we are to move in the given direction. We know where we are moving to and what we are aiming at.