Young Front activist will be responsible for hunger strike that “never happened”

The press-service of the Ministry of Defense keeps denying the very possibility of a protest hunger strike of soldiers in Lapichy.

As our web-site reported on 22 July, soldiers went on hunger strike at the military unit 44540 due to prejudiced treatment on the part of the commad.

The information on the hunger strike caused, to put it mildly, inadequate reaction of the press-secretary of the Ministry of Defense Uladzimir Makarau and army’s leadership.

“There was no hunger strike! Are you kidding? The information, which was thrown in by the totalitarian internet source Charter’97, is not accurate. Your liberoid things will not pass”, - the press-secretary of Defense Ministry Uladzimir Makarau claimed. He also said that he was preparing an article, which would be for some reason called “Goat’s song by Belarusian opposition”, in which the military institution would tell about “another provocation” on the part of independent media.

In the meanwhile, according to charter97.org’s information, a commission within the Ministry of Defense is investigating the incident. It turned out that a Young Front activist Mikhail Musski is serving at the military unit, and he was made guilty.

“We know that today in the morning Mikhail was taken out of the military unit in Lapichy to Minsk direction. It is not known for sure, whether he has been taken to a guardhouse, or another place. He did not take an oath, so he actually cannot serve a punishment as a military man. From what we know from the people, who were at the military unit, a commission came from the Ministry of Defense after the soldiers’ protest hunger strike and the event’s media coverage. It studied the case for several days and in the end all the accusations that the hunger strike happened and the information got in the media fell on Mikhail, and he was taken away. We understand that the dissemination of information cannot be a reason for starting a criminal case, but everything is possible in our country, and that is why it is absolutely unclear, why and how everything is happening”, - a Young Front activist Mikalaj Dzemidzenka told charter97.org.

Soldiers confirm the information about the hunger strike too.

One of the soldiers informed the charter97.org web-site about that on the conditions of anonymity.

“Yes, indeed, there was a hunger strike at the military unit 44540 as a protest against the actions of the command”, - he told.

Another soldier, whom we managed to speak with, said that the command forbad giving any comment on what was happening at the military unit.

We reached the administration of the military unit in Lapichy. At the call center they said they could not comment on the information, having noted that only the political supervisor Viachaslau Bieliakou or Babrujsk inter-garrison military procuracy could comment. At the procuracy they referred to the absence of the command, and Viachaslau Bieliakou simply did not speak with our reporter and later turned off his phone.