Minsk: Female activists heavily fined for participating in rally of Kurapaty defenders


Pershamayski district court of Minsk imposed fines on activists Nasta Dashkevich and Volha Nikalaichyk for participating in February’s campaign of defending Kurapaty, a Stalin-era mass grave site near the Belarusian capital.

The formal charge is ‘violating the order of holding mass events’.

Nasta Dashkevich, whose husband is now in the KGB jail on charges of preparing mass riots, was BYN345 fined in absentia. Volha Nikalaichyk, who will have to pay BYN 690, was present at the trial, she pleaded not guilty.

Earlier today, Alena Nyakrasava, a judge at Zavadski district court of Minsk, imposed BYN 1,150 fine on the Belarusian People’s Front chairman Alyaksei Yanukevich for participating in a rally of Kurapaty defenders.

Kurapaty, a place on the outskirts of Minsk, is not just the national memorial and a mass grave of the victims of Stalinist repression, it is a site of historical and cultural heritage.

In late February, the Belarusian activists began a long-term action in defense of the memorial protesting against the construction of an office building started a few dozen meters from Kurapaty. According to them, it is fraudulent as the building permission was granted when the area was considered a protected zone.

Why Belarusians defend Kurapaty (Turn English subtitles on)

The plot on which ‘Belrekonstruktsiya’ company undertook the construction of a four-storey business center was sold by the city authorities at the auction in 2013. In 2014 the protected zone was significantly cut. According to historian Ihar Kuznyatsou, it is highly likely that remains of the victims will be found here. KGB archives which could cast light on the burial plans are classified until now.

Belarusian Voluntary Society for Protection of Monuments appealed to the KGB and city authorities with a statement about possible corruption schemes and violations during the construction project design which is interfering with the protected zone.

Later, Andrey Shorats, chairman of Minsk city executive committee, met with a group of four people to discuss the conflict. The official promised that construction works near Kurapaty would be suspended for a week. According to politician Pavel Sevyarynets, it was a ‘battling draw’. Despite the decision, the activists refuse to displace the camp of Kurapaty defenders: they demand the construction of the business center be terminated.

After several-day protesting in Kurapaty, the developer decided to take away its building fleet. The company ordered to minimize any works and take the machines away. However, Minsk City Committee has not given up the idea to stop the construction of a business center, that is why the confrontation is not over yet.

belsat.eu

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