Film director Volha Nikalaichyk and European Belarus activist Artsyom Charnyauka staged an unusual picket near the Ministry of Information in Minsk on Sunday.
They brought a large pot of hot noodles and began to serve it up to passers-by. Their aim was to draw people’s attention to the authorities’ pressure on journalists and bloggers.
According to the organizers, they are outraged over the fact that the authorities which are financed by taxpayers are persecuting independent media. A month ago, website Charter 97 was blocked; previously, Belarusian Partisan had been in the crosshairs. On February 18, during the elections to local councils, Belsat TV cameraman Andrus Kozel was severely beaten by the Minsk police.
State-run media outlets and the ministry are spinning yarns, the protesters told Minskers. The Belarusian idiom for it is ‘placing noodles on people’s ears’; that is why they decided to cook noodles and use them in such an unusual way.
The police arrived at the scene after the activists had packed up and left. By the moment, it is not known whether any protocols were drawn upon them for the unauthorized picket.
belsat.eu
