German TV channel ZDF: “Uniform by Dictator” :: Charter'97 :: News

For more than 10 years the German Special Forces structures have their uniform tailored in Belarus. Today officers of Bundeswehr, German criminal police and customs services are dressed in the uniform manufactured in Belarus. And while the employees of the Dziarzhynsk garment factory are proud of their German orders, the customers show no pride in this concern and refrain from any comments on this matter. In their coverage “Uniform by Dictator” the journalists of the ZDF TV channel even raise the question of morality in this situation.

As Radio Liberty repots, according to the authors of the coverage, every year more and more federal lands of Germany place orders for special outfit for military men, police officers and customs officials with the Dziarzhynsk garment factory. “Isn’t it surprising that the German law-enforcement agencies place these orders with the country that is called in German “the last dictatorship of Europe” for the unacceptable situation with human rights?” - ask the authors of the coverage.

The German TV-workers deem, nevertheless, that this fact hardly troubles the customers. The Administration of the German Ministry of Interior, that the journalist of ZDF address to, confirms that the uniform is tailored in the Belarusian town of Dziarzhynsk but refrains from an interview.
However, as the German journalists emphasize, the small Belarusian town is named after the organizer of the Red Terror and founder of the soviet KGB Felix Dziarzhynski. The customers hardly ponder over such analogies. The most essential for them is that the salary of Dziarzhynsk seamstresses is Euro 120 per month, the quality of their work is high and the schedule is flexible. And this is the crucial moment.

In their coverage the German journalists remind the audience about the political situation in Belarus and also about the sharp criticism with which Bundestag treats the Belarusian regime for the non-democratic policy, nevertheless, the leadership of the country headed by the Belarusian dictator ignores this critics.

“Are the democrats right when placing orders with dictators?” - ask the German journalists.