Natallya Ilyinich: Truth on my side, but what will verdict say?

The court of the Pukhavichy is to complete the hearing of a lawsuit filed by former history teacher Natallya Ilyinich against the administration of a secondary school in Talka.

The teacher seeks reinstatement to her former job.

Natallya Ilyinich, a well-known public activist and participant of several election campaigns, thinks she was fired for political reasons. The school headmistress, Natallya Merkulava, denies this.

Natallya Ilyinich gave her comments on the first day of trial to Radio Svaboda.

“The truth is on my side, but what will the verdict say? I don’t know this. Witnesses were heard, they spoke very well. They said I was a good teacher. I think they were praising me too much. But the headmistress said I was a bad and undisciplined teacher and complained at my poor administrative discipline. She showed documents demonstrating my errors in keeping class registers for the last 10 years. But the period was 10 years. Everyone has complaints at his or her work for such a period.”

The court of the Pukhavichy district is expected to deliver a verdict in the case today.

BelaPAN news agency reminds that Natallya Ilyinich was fired by headmistress Natallya Merkul on January 27. The teacher thinks the dismissal is connected with her active public position. Ilyinich has worked in a school of Talka for 26 years. She created a center of regional history and website talka.info, published a book “Talka and its neighbourhood”. She studies the national liberating uprising of 1863 under command of Kastus Kalinouski against the Russian empire in the Igumensky uezd, holds annual Talka Fest, which enjoys popularity among school children and other people. Among her former pupils are philosophers, sociologists, historians, and folklorists.

Ilyinich supports the idea of the Belarusian national revival, but she hasn’t joined any political party. She took active part in election campaigns: collected signatures for democratic candidates and observed elections.

On January 5, officers of the KGB and police searched her house and seized a camera flash card and a system unit. Then the teacher was fired in spite of petitions by the head of the local trade union branch, her pupils’ parents and graduated pupils.

Ilyinich appealed to Tatsyana Charnyshova, the head of the education department of the Pukhavichy district executive committee, and Minister of Education Syarhei Maskevich asking for their assistance in reinstatement to her job, but this brought no success. On February 10, Ilyinich filed a lawsuit. Judge Svyatlana Akulich conducted a preliminary hearing of the case on March 1.