Vandals cut down trees planted by Brest activists

The unknown cut down trees planted in autumn in the cemetery in Brest.

On November 2, 2014 Brest dwellers sympathetic with history and culture of Belarus visited the Balakhava cemetery in Rechytsa microdistrict. They removed all the garbage. To separate the cemetery from the garage building-up as well as for decorative purposes, activists planted along the fence Canadian oaks and spruces. All trees were bought in a nursery for personal finances of rally participants. When planting they took into account the distance to graves and a fence to trunks and roots later not to damage them. After that the activists lit candles and honoured memory of soldiers and officers buried there.

However, a week later, Brest City Executive Committee made a harsh critical statement. Authorities claimed that community services and the Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRYU) allegedly cleaned the territory, so there could be no garbage. And it is forbidden to plant trees without superiors' permit. The statement caused widespread debates on the website "Virtualny Brest", and some activists of BRYU and employees of the Committee themselves commented on the statement (some comments are almost the same). Afterwards the true cause of such bureaucrats' and BRYU activists' irritation became clear: white-red-white flag was hung out during theaction. Police even tried to find activists. However, they were acting in their own way: It should be noted that in autumn of 2014 in Belarus against Belarusian Patriots was held a wave of repression "on photos." Those participants of commemorative events, whose photos were posted on the Internet, in Svislach and Minsk got a ticket.

Recently it turned out the unknown cut down all Canadian oaklets planted by activists.

The trees were cut down with an axe or other sharp object, leaving only supportive pegs. Vandals cut down only trees planted in autumn, other trees (some of them, by the way, really threaten monuments) remained.

Visitors again see piles of garbage which the City Executive Committee allegedly removes.