KGB, radicals side by side in Pinsk

Opposition activists in Pinsk have received postcards featuring a hummer and sickle, a symbol associated with radical Bolshevik groups, and saying, "You Game's Up!"  The postcards were posted to 11 or 12 activists who say they have been watched closely by police and KGB agents. The activists are routinely arrested on trumped-up charges ahead of big opposition protests. Some of them say that the KGB encourages radical youths to clash with dissidents.

 

A cell of Vanguard of Red Youth (AKM), a radical Russian communist group, was formed in Pinsk in 2001 after one local former functionary of the Leninist Young Communist League (LKSMB) joined Russia's AKM.

AKM members have taken part in all May Day demonstrations organized by the Pinsk authorities in the last few years. AKM thugs are said to have physically assaulted local opposition members and election observers, and threw an egg at opposition candidate Alyaksandr Milinkevich during his campaign stop in the town in 2006.

 

The KGB has turned a blind eye to AKM, whose declared goals include changing the constitutional system and annexing Belarus to Russia. AKM activists usually gather in downtown Pinsk outside the KGB building. The place is marked by graffiti.

Says Viktar Varashuk, one of the activists who received the postcard, "I am sure our secret service is aware of the AKM activities. But it has received no orders to stop it. When they distributed leaflets insulting a democratic parliamentary candidate, I appealed to the prosecutor's office, but it replied that it has not found those responsible."