22.02.2012 16:54 Videos
Video: Associate denounces jail term imposed on young opposition activist Vinahradaw over toy "protest"
Pavel Vinahradaw, activist of the “Tell the Truth!” movement`s youth wing called Zmena, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 days in jail for a toy “protest” organized by Zmena in central Minsk on February 10.
Judge Tatsyana Matyl of the city’s Maskowski District Court found the young activist guilty of organizing an unsanctioned protest.
The February 10 protest in front of the Minsk City Executive Committee’s building saw soft toys playing the role of demonstrators. Nine toys with miniature signs calling for press freedom and the release of the country’s political prisoners were displayed on a flower urn.
The event was designed to mark the beginning of the youth wing’s new campaign called “Enough Moaning.”
Mr. Vinahradaw was arrested on Tuesday afternoon and spent the night in the detention center on Akrestsina Street.
“In fact, it was nothing but a political parody intended to show that only toys can rally in our country,” Mr. Vinahradaw’s associate, Mikhail Pashkevich, commented to BelaPAN. “But the Minsk police decided to clamp down even on this protest. For organizing a toy protest, Pasha received 10 days in jail, not a toy sentence.”
Mr. Pashkevich said that humor could prove to be the “main weapon” for young pro-democratic supporters. “Only something interesting, like a toy protest exposing the absurdity of the current situation, can capture people and arouse emotions in them,” he said.
Mr. Vinahradaw was to meet with a friend at a cafe at 5 p.m. on Tuesday but never appeared there. His wife, Svyatlana, learned about his arrest only at 3:30 a.m. She told BelaPAN that she had phoned police, the Committee for State Security (KGB) and an accident helpline, as well as reported the husband’s disappearance to the Leninski district police station. “Only when I was heading with police to our home for its examination at around 3:30 a.m., I phoned once again [the detention center on] Akrestsina Street to learn that he had been brought there.”
“There was only one witness in court, who said that he had seen a man in a grey coat leaving the place where the toys were displayed,” the woman said. “After being shown a photo of Vinahradaw, he claimed that he recognized him.”
Judge Tatsyana Matyl of the city’s Maskowski District Court found the young activist guilty of organizing an unsanctioned protest.
The February 10 protest in front of the Minsk City Executive Committee’s building saw soft toys playing the role of demonstrators. Nine toys with miniature signs calling for press freedom and the release of the country’s political prisoners were displayed on a flower urn.
The event was designed to mark the beginning of the youth wing’s new campaign called “Enough Moaning.”
Mr. Vinahradaw was arrested on Tuesday afternoon and spent the night in the detention center on Akrestsina Street.
“In fact, it was nothing but a political parody intended to show that only toys can rally in our country,” Mr. Vinahradaw’s associate, Mikhail Pashkevich, commented to BelaPAN. “But the Minsk police decided to clamp down even on this protest. For organizing a toy protest, Pasha received 10 days in jail, not a toy sentence.”
Mr. Pashkevich said that humor could prove to be the “main weapon” for young pro-democratic supporters. “Only something interesting, like a toy protest exposing the absurdity of the current situation, can capture people and arouse emotions in them,” he said.
Mr. Vinahradaw was to meet with a friend at a cafe at 5 p.m. on Tuesday but never appeared there. His wife, Svyatlana, learned about his arrest only at 3:30 a.m. She told BelaPAN that she had phoned police, the Committee for State Security (KGB) and an accident helpline, as well as reported the husband’s disappearance to the Leninski district police station. “Only when I was heading with police to our home for its examination at around 3:30 a.m., I phoned once again [the detention center on] Akrestsina Street to learn that he had been brought there.”
“There was only one witness in court, who said that he had seen a man in a grey coat leaving the place where the toys were displayed,” the woman said. “After being shown a photo of Vinahradaw, he claimed that he recognized him.”
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