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CULTURE DEBATE. Raman Bandarenka he was 31 years old. Designer by profession. Artist. He taught small children to paint. His last word in the chat to the residents of the tenant-owner association was: “I go out.”
He went out into the courtyard where unknown men dressed in black were removing white, red and white ribbons that decorate the courtyard. He was then kidnapped and found in a hospital, in a coma. Brain surgery immediately, but too late. The same day he died.
This is not a description of Tonton macoutes reign of terror in the 1960s in Haiti. It is happening now, 80 miles from here in Minsk, Belarus. An ordinary citizen is killed with fists and high black boots. Because you wonder what these boot owners are doing on their farm and who they are.
State fascism is sweeping Belarus. Masked men without insignia on their black or olive green uniforms rob, assault, maim, shoot and murder peaceful citizens. It occurs in a country that has no territorial, ethnic, religious or other divisions or conflicts. The only thing citizens want is for their right to vote to be respected, for a mad and bloody dictator to renounce the power he has lost.
The fascist infection spreads very quickly.
Again: we are not talking about a divided society. In Belarus, there are no broad popular movements that oppose democratization and respect for fundamental human rights. So there is nothing like “Antimajdan” in Ukraine in 2014, or broad conservative forces like in Poland today.
The whole popular uprising in Belarus is about one thing: counting our votes, away from power with you! The only ones against are the state apparatus, violent masked policemen. It is state fascism in its purest, almost academically exemplary form.
The fascist infection spreads very quickly. It is foolish and naive to think that this is an isolated internal political phenomenon in a small geopolitically insignificant country. If fascism wins in Belarus, it wins throughout Europe.
Dmitri Plax is an author, currently with the book “Peter: time”, and a contributor to the Expressen culture page. He is also a radio producer and translator.
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