‘Raise The Flag Back!’ Man picks up Belarusians’ symbol in spite of risk of being arrested
Activist and entrepreneur Andrus Asmalouski has become one the web after picking up a white-red-white flag off the ground and saying ‘Raise the flag back!’ on March 25. At that moment, the Belarus riot police were grabbing the protesters and even ordinary passers-by and put them into paddy wagons.
On 19 September 1991, the white-red-white flag and emblem Pahonya (Pursuit) were officially recognized state symbols of the Republic of Belarus. Such resolution was passed by the Supreme Soviet of the 12th convocation after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But after the 1995 referendum, they were replaced by those reminiscent of Soviet symbolism. The white-red-white flag has been often associated with the opposition to the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
Andrus was fully aware of the threat of being arrested too, but he could not tolerate the fact that people in police uniform who suppress Belarus, suppress our nation dropped our flag to the ground and were trampling on it.
“The flag should go up – literally and figuratively. At the rally there was such climate that no one was afraid on anything. Secondly, riot police looked pretty funny. I even wanted to mock at them a little bit. Therefore, to be sincere, I said these wordsin Russian. First of all, it was a message for them. This is our real flag. In fact, it is a symbol of Pahonya (Pursuit), whatever our propagandists say now. For us, it is a holy symbol under which our ancestors defended the country we have today,” he says.
The man was detained near a paddy wagon, but fortunately, he escaped any penalty.
Belarus police against Belarusians: Brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in Minsk (ENG video)
On March 25, the Minsk riot police brutally dispersed the protest against the so-called tax on ‘spongers’ introduced by president Alyaksandr Lukashenka in 2015. Even women, elderly people, journalists and ordinary passers-by – were arrested, battered and jailed. It is noteworthy that the protesters also planned a peaceful celebration of Freedom Day. It is an unofficial holiday commemorating the establishment of the first Belarusian nation-state, the Belarusian People’s Republic, on March 25, 1918.
belsat.eu
