In Belarus, protests are held against curtailing Chernobyl programs

Igor Korney, Minsk: a series of events dedicated to the sixteenth anniversary of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, took place in various cities of Belarus and beyond. About three thousand people took part in the main march of democratic forces - the Chernobyl gentry in Minsk. For the first time, the Chernobyl gentry was held in 1989. Before the coming to power, Alexander Lukashenko, the event was held at the state level and invariably gathered a large number of participants. However, since 1995, the procession has been conducting an opposition, protesting against the curtailing by the leadership of the country of a number of Chernobyl programs.

Since last year, the Chernobyl gentry united all opposition parties and social movements. However, this time there was a split: the Conservative-Peasant Party of the Belarusian Popular Front announced the day before, announced its non-participation in the general action, and more than a hundred supporters of the party gathered on April 26 in the center of Minsk for their procession. The leadership of the liberal-democratic party was also expressed about the intention to hold the action on April 27, but on the eve of the party leader Sergei Gaidukevich said that there would be no procession. The liberal democrats explain their decision by the fact that the Minsk City Executive Committee forbade them to conduct a demonstration on the main avenue of the capital. Instead, he allowed a rally in the Friendship of Peoples. We do not want to humiliate ourselves and hold this event on a dog walking site, ”said Gaidukevich. Nevertheless, the party’s leadership decided not to contact the city executive committee for permits of political actions and, if necessary, hold events without sanctions of the city authorities.

During April 26-27, Chernobyl shares were held in Mogilev, Vitebsk, Baranovichi and other cities of Belarus. For protests against the current policy of the country's leadership gathered dozens of people from the embassies of Belarus in Belgium, the Czech Republic and Poland. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko these days is on a trip to the Mogilev region. Commenting on the Chernobyl gentry, Lukashenko noted that such promotions are made for the sake of a picture on television, and the Chernobyl consequences of the accident are not minimized.