Fired Activist Seeks Justice at Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus and Babruisk City Education Department :: Charter'97 :: News

On 31 August the deputy of Babruisk City Deputy Soviet, teacher of history Aliaksandr Chyhir chained himself to a lamppost opposite the building of Babruisk City Executive Committee in order to express his protest against his politically motivated dismissal from the school where he used to work. The police detained him and ten journalists from different independent editions.

Recently the state newspaper Babruiskaie zhyttsio published the anonymous article One Actor’s Theater that depicted these events in the manner insulting to Aliaksandr Chyhir and the detained journalists, though the latter ones weren’t mentioned there by their names.

Mr Chyhir hasn’t yet decided on his reaction to this publication. Now he is in the Ukraine. He has come there on invitation of the local democratic activists. He has already filed complaints against the dismissal with the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus and the Education Department of Babruisk CEC. ‘It is very difficult to predict the development of events. I seems to me my case will be decided not by the local or regional authorities, but at a higher level. They will only execute whatever decision will be taken. The policemen always emphasize their being simple effecters. Pitifully enough, it is really so,’ Mr Chyhir commented.

By the way, Ales Chyhir was the only breadwinner in the family. At present he has three children and his wife is expecting a fourth one, that’s why she is not working.