Excluded from university for love for Europe

Democratic activist and human rights activist Sviatlana Harohavik was warned she could be excluded from Belarusian State University for participation in the European March preparation. A KGB agent came to the special prison facility in Akrestin Street where the girl was serving her term of 15 days of arrest, and said she wouldn’t go to the university any more.

Sviatlana Harohavik, a 4-year student of applied mathematics and informatics faculty of Belarusian State University, was detained 1 October in Minsk together with democratic activists Zmiter Barodka and Leanid Navitski. The OMON soldiers perjured on the trial and accused the oppositionists in “using obscene language”, and the activists were sentenced to 15 days of arrest.

As Sviatlana Harohavik has said Charter’97 press center, the KGB agent who named himself Mikhail Pivavarau, came to the special prison facility on the third day of her term. He threatened her with the exclusion from the university. He said there was Lukashenka’s order to exclude urgently the students in case of even administrative detainment.

In the cell, where Sviatlana Harohavik was sitting, 12 people were serving their terms, mainly for domestic hooliganism and thefts. There was even a drug addict. In the first days Sviatlana was stolen her jacket. At night one of the cell mates took the girl’s things when being released. The human rights activist wrote a complaint. After some days the thief’s relatives brought Sveta another jacket – very chip, three sizes bigger, but new. Sveta took her complaint away because for a theft a criminal action could be raised against the woman. According to her, the jacket wasn’t worth of it...

Because the awful cold in the cell, Sviatlana got ill – she had a temperature of 38 degrees for two days. The prison doctor gave her a paracetamol tablet. One time she was given extra a glass of hot tea. The “treatment” was over.

It was impossible to eat prison food. “I felt sick all the time - the food was very bland, without salt… I had to starve sometimes”, - Sviatlana tells.

The oppositionist wasn’t allowed to go out of the cell, though other arrested went to work every day.

When Sviatlana came to the university after the expiration of sentence, a vice-dean for educational work of applied mathematics and informatics faculty Dmitry Bazyleu called her to his cabinet. He said as Sviatlana Harohavik had been detained for the second time (last year the girl was detained for an action of solidarity, but released without the report drawn up), there is a great possibility that she will be excluded. “In any case the decision will be taken by the dean and some people of high rank“, - Sviatlana literally repeated the dean’s words.

Now the authorities are saying with proud how much they like Europe and how they have authorized the European March. But indeed, they were taking repressions before the European March and go on the repressions now.

All the assurances of love for Europe and own “democratic character” are nothing else but an attempt to deceive the Europeans. The Lukashenka’s regime remains a dictator one in itself. It is not going to accept 12 proposals, but on the contrary, is intensifying the repressions.