"We are at the peak of this cynicism"

Friends and close competitor Lukashenko in the election of the President of Belarus are afraid for their safety. Interview Girls Eduard Babariko

On the evening of June 19, 2020, protests began in Belarus against the detention of a presidential candidate Viktor Babariko and his son Edward. The authorities called Babariko the “head of illegal activity” in Belgazprombank, which Babariko headed for 20 years. Medusa talked with the girl Eduard Babariko Alexandra Zvereva about whether her father and son Babariko expected that they could be detained, how she supports her young man and the reaction of the population of Belarus to detention.

- How and when did you learn about the detention of Victor and Eduard Babariko?

- I learned about this on June 18, the first reports that they stopped in touch began to enter the official group in Telegram Viktor Babariko. They were detained when they were driving the last part of the signatures in the CEC - I’m not sure that these signatures reached the commission. But in any case, the headquarters transferred a sufficient number of signatures [for registration], this is a record for an alternative candidate. Nobody collected so many signatures to Viktor Babariko. Excluding, of course, Alexander Lukashenko, but these signatures gather under pressure in government agencies, they are forced to take teachers, doctors - this is no secret.

Edik did not get in touch with me that day: he spent the night with his father in the house, who was inherited by Eduard from his mother, his father lived there. Since the arrests of managers in Belgazprombank, friends of Viktor Babariko began , Ediko and I agreed that we are cheating at a certain time and he tells me that everything is fine.

- Eduard worked a lot at his father's headquarters?

- From the very beginning. Until the last, he doubted [whether to participate in the campaign] - he lived a calm life in his house, swam in the river in the morning, rode a bicycle, then went to work, read books in the evening. But he decided that if he did not [does not take part in the work of the headquarters], he would not forgive himself. Eduard spent 14-15 hours a day at the headquarters, did not really ate, lost weight, his father supported as best he could.

- What was your reaction to the detention?

- At the headquarters, they immediately told me that it was not known what the following actions [the authorities] will be - perhaps they would detain me for the same reason that they detained Viktor Babariko's friends in order to put pressure on him, Edward. Then I found out that searches in housing that belongs to Edik began to take place. It seemed to me logical that I would begin to broadcast everything that is happening in my accounts in social networks. I wrote on Instagram, there was much less information [about the detention of Victor and Eduard Babariko] than Facebook. She wrote on Facebook, people share these posts, while no actions from the authorities were taken to me. And whether they will be undertaken is not yet clear.

- How did you live in recent weeks?

- Nervously nervously: arrests in the bank began, investigations in the companies that were customers of the bank, the arrests went. The last two days have been a last nightmare. But I try to hold on and understand that I definitely will not help anyone with panic and drama.

-Did Viktor Babariko have any concerns about the election nomination?

-Yes, he initially expected some kind of reaction [power to his nomination], he realized that he was under threat that he could also exert pressure through his son. Victor Babariko really voluntarily left his post in the bank, he believed in his strength, in his ideals, understood that he was entering a completely unequal battle. Initially, everyone was ready for the fact that the campaign would not pass calmly: no one would allow to calmly collect signatures, they would impede the registration as a candidate - but no one could predict such large -scale actions. Eduard himself said that his arrest would be the height of cynicism, because he did not take part in the work of companies that concern the investigation. Now, it turns out, we are at the peak of this cynicism.

In case of his detention, Viktor Babariko recorded an appeal where he offers Belarusians to hold a referendum to return the 1994 Constitution, where it is stated that the president cannot occupy his post for more than two terms, it was a question of the separation of powers. This is a normal practice, but it is absent in Belarus.

- How do people relate to the current government?

- You can see what non -state media write, you can look at the “chain of solidarity” in Minsk on June 18 - people stood in the rain, riot police immediately arrived with autozaks. Our media published polls-voting [on the Internet], the current president was gaining 3%-now there are jokes about “Sasha three percent” in our country. These votes in the media quickly banned. A friend told me that her grandmother, who held the portrait of Lukashenko next to her granddaughters, began to say that Alexander Grigoryevich had already gone crazy. Everyone remembers the times when alternative candidates have disappeared, understand that they are now delaying the innocent, they understand that Alexander Grigoryevich will be with blue fingers to hold on to power, because he has nowhere to run. This is a battle between life and death.

Although I found the time when many said that Lukashenko is a good president, young people did this. Although the intelligentsia probably understood from the very beginning that he was not very educated and not very adequate.

- How do you support Eduard, do you have the opportunity to see him?

- Eduard and I have been living together for seven years, but are not connected by legal status, so formally I am not his close relative. Most likely, I will not be allowed not to go to the dates, but even to convey personal things. It was possible to convey one of the things through Viktor Babariko’s sister, he and Edward have no other relatives in Belarus, except for his grandfather Edik from his mother.

Now from all sides they tell me that I myself am in danger, that you can exert pressure through me, if not on Victor Babariko, then on Edward. I don't know what to say here! The only thing I can do is to support informational, talk about the situation in the media.

- How did people react to detention?

- It seems to me that people support [Victor and Eduard Babariko] - I see avatars with the symbols of the campaign almost everywhere. Of course, the state media is a lot of dirt, it is said about some kind of money laundering, but, thank God, most people do not believe in it. This inspires hope for the best. Belarusians are not indifferent and ready for some actions.

Andrey Pertsev