In Brest, the most numerous protest action took place over the past five years. As a result, about a thousand people took to the streets of the city to protest against Decree No. 3.*
Initially, the activist of the United Civil Party, Vladimir Vuek, tried in every possible way to “drain” the protest. Five minutes after the start of the gathering, he led the people away to the City Executive Committee, despite the fact that not all had gathered. Then he took on the role of negotiator, about which no one asked him and went “to negotiate.”
The result of his negotiations, as it is not surprising, was an invitation to sit in the auditorium and listen to the story of the chairman of the city executive committee, how well people in Belarus live. Most people did not like this approach and they continued to hold a meeting near the city executive committee. At that moment Brest anarchists arrived, who intercepted the initiative of the UCP activist, who senselessly shouted about provocation.
The anarchists turned to the crowd, urged them to stay on the streets and organize strikes for those who work. They also gave everyone the opportunity to speak with a megaphone. After that, the anarchists turned to people with a proposal to march through the streets of the city straight to the Central Department Store, which the people of Brest supported.
Anarchists chanted “Our decision is self-government”, “Officials are thieves, politicians are liars”, “Enough of fear – it’s time to resist”, and “No to Decree number three – Lukashenko leave”. Also, some people chanted “Long Live Belarus”, which can hardly be called relevant in the framework of this protest. The column moved first along the pavements, and then along the pedestrian street. Directly before the Central Department Store anarchists put forward a proposal for a few minutes to block the prospect to show the seriousness of the intentions of the protesters. As a result, the protesters supported this proposal and blocked the prospect.
Near the the Central Department Store Internet bloggers and opposition activists appealed to Brest residents with a call to come to the action on March 25 in Minsk. The anarchists supported the call to go to the rally on the 25th and other protests, and also called on people not to give titchers in civilian clothes to grab one of the protesters. After that, the action was declared complete, and under the watch of journalists the participants got on a bus.
If initially there were about 300 protesters, then as a result of the procession along Sovetskaya Street, the number of protesters increased to a thousand people. As far as we know, only one person was detained immediately after leaving the anarchists. But it became known that the police in their typical style came to several well-known activists. At the moment, we know about the attempt to detain two people, but we can assume that “casual detention” will continue and the number of people will increase. We ask everyone to report cases of detentions or visits of police. We also urge you not to open the door to the police, give no evidence and refuse from any cooperation with them. United we are strong!
*Note from Insurrection News: Decree No. 3 is the so-called ‘Anti-Parasite’ law, legislation that requires citizens who work less than 183 days per year to pay a tax of $US250 which is a lot of money in Belarus. Failure to pay the tax can result in imprisonment, forced community work and further financial penalties.
Another video from the protest in Brest
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via insurrectionnewsworldwide.com
