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They are called tichari – the silence. These are masked men who do not wear uniforms, but are sent by the Ministry of the Interior or by the KGB security service. Their job is to threaten and abuse, create fear and stop people from going out on the streets. They behave aggressively, do not answer questions, and seek a reason to attack people.
On the night of October 11, 31-year-old Raman Bandarenka stood among the crowd at his home on the Minsk farm and witnessed these tichari ripping the red and white ribbons that residents had adorned the courtyard with. . The red and white color is a symbol of the protest movement against President Alexander Lukashenko.
Suddenly, one of the masked men saw Bandarenka. They forcibly pushed him to the ground, hit him on the head and then took him to a waiting bus. Two hours later, he was left unconscious in a Minsk hospital with severe brain damage. On the afternoon of October 13, he was dead.
Overnight As of Friday, more than a thousand people gathered in Minsk to honor Bandarenka’s memory. They sang the song “The walls will fall” (Steny ruchnut), lit candles and hung posters with the text “We will survive, we are better”.
In recent weeks, the violence of the Lukashenko regime against the population has accelerated. Security services and riot soldiers have chased people home. They often appear on farms and deliberately cause conflict. The police are now quite rightly saying that Bandarenka was killed in an ordinary fight, when a “group of citizens” wanted to remove the red and white flags and the inhabitants of the house protested.
It’s about giving a signal: keep it up and they’ll kill you too.
But every time Lukashenko’s regime has chosen the path of violence, it has turned against itself. Following the rigged presidential elections on August 9, the protesters were forcibly dispersed. This sparked even bigger protests. The Minister of the Interior even had to apologize to the citizens of Belarus in a television interview.
In recent weeks, protests have continued, but the number of protesters has slowly decreased. It was to be expected, winter is upon us and Lukashenko is still there. The opposition general strike on October 26 received wide support, but did not upset the dictator.
Lukashenko wants to end the protests once and for all. He hopes that the arbitrary and reckless violence will lead people to choose to stay home from the demonstrations.
On the contrary, the death of Raman Bandarenka could trigger a new wave of protests. Preparations for a new large-scale demonstration on Sunday are already underway in Minsk.
Throughout August month, the world followed with encouragement in the demonstrations in Belarus. Since then, they have been overshadowed by other news, especially the US presidential election. But it is clear that the mood for protest remains strong.
Bandarenka is not the first protester to die. The way he died has shocked the whole of Minsk. It can give new impetus to demos.
Preliminary investigation authorities in Minsk now claim that Bandarenka was drunk when he died. But the doctors who treated him say that the patient did not have a drop of alcohol in his blood. Byelorussian hospital staff have been actively involved in the protests. Now the question is how many people take to the streets in Minsk on Sunday.
