Ian Hryb, a 80-year-old Belarusian poet and his daughter took part in the protest on March 25 in Minsk. But instead of the march and celebration they saw the harsh crackdown of peaceful citizens.
Unable to bear the sight of the groundless violence against Belarusians, Ian Hryb turned to the officer, who was standing nearby. In response, the old man ended up in the paddy wagon next to other detainees. When the police began transferring the people out of the paddy wagon, the old poet took advantage of the confusion moment and happily left.
The poet’s daughter was lucky enough to avoid the fun ride in the paddy wagon.
Since childhood, the poet’s children have accompanied him to the street protests and have worn white-red-white flags. Once the girls even saved him from violence. During one of the protests in the 90s, a policeman was going to hit Mr Hryb with a truncheon on the head. After the intervention of the girls, the policeman got confused and did not harm the old man.
The poet is not frightened by either masked policemen with shields or the prospect of being put into a paddy wagon. Despite his age and history of heart attack, he promises to keep on protesting.
Ian Hryb was born in 1936, his work was published in periodicals, he published a collection of poems called “In My Homeland”. He is a hunter, poet and a member of the national rebirth movement. He also organizes festivals of Belarusian culture.
There are unconfirmed reports of people recognizing one of the masked policemen who detained Ian Hryb in the first place. Allegedly, his name is Mikalai Shynkevich.
