This time about 240 participants came to the traditional “feeding of pigeons”. People gathered in the main square of the city, then they passed in a column along the central streets of Brest.
This time there were no detentions, although on the eve of the rally, which took place on February 10, human rights activist Uladzimir Vyalichkin and activist Vital Kazak were detained. Another activist, Alyaksandr Kabanau from Byaroza, was unable to feed the pigeons, as he was detained by the police in the morning. After a long questioning as a witness, he was released, but did not manage to get to Brest.
It is the second Sunday in a row that sees a different format of the rally — after gathering on Lenin Square, the opponents of the plant marched along the central streets of Brest: Pushkin and Savetskaya, that was the end of their walk.
Leaders of the center-right coalition Yury Hubarevich, Vital Rymasheusky and Mikalai Kazlou
came to support the Brest residents from Minsk
Since February last year, residents of Brest and the Brest region have been protesting against a battery factory near the city. People have collected more than 40 thousand signatures against the construction, but the authorities have been ignoring their opinion. During the year of protest, 55 meetings, 8 demonstrations and 12 pickets, as well as a local referendum, were banned. Therefore, people gather in the central square of Brest and feed pigeons, but even in this format, the authorities use repression. Many participants of the pigeon feeding were detained by the police, people were fined and held in prison. Every appearance of the Belsat journalists on the square is punishable by heavy fines.
