2012 main events and scandals (photo)
Lahoisk blast, execution of Kanavalau and Kavalyou, "teddy bears landing" and other news which occupied people's heads in Belarus in 2012.
The year 2011 was rich in events so everyone expected 2012 to be more peaceful and quiet. The first month passed with no noticeable news, but already on February 8 there happened a blast in the village of Malinauka near Lahoisk - a multi-apartment residential building exploded. One person died at the spot, several were handicapped. The reason for the blast is still unknown although they have already managed to restore the building.
"The commission worked for about 2 weeks, they inspected all gas tubes and ovens. We insisted on technical tests of all gas equipment, every inhabitant of the building was interrogated. The version of domestic gas blast has not been confirmed by the experts so far", - Deputy Chairman of Lahoisk district executive committee Syarhei Strazhnikevich has told Euroradio. In Autumn, the people moved to the restores house with no gas - just in case.
The next event, which cannot be called an ordinary one, steered the country on March 17. On that day, Uladzislau Kavalyou's mother got a notification about the execution of her son, convicted to death for the terrorist act in the metro. She is still trying to find out the place where her son was buried, at numerous instances. The UN took Kavalyou's mother's side in the end, having urged the Belarusian authorities to satisfy her appeals and complaints.
The next event is release of Andrei Sannikau and Zmitser Bandarenka. They returned home from prisons on March 15. Sannikau met with his allies and journalists at about 2 a.m. at the railway station. The politician wasn't talkative. "I still don't realize where I am. I want to take a rest. The main aim today is release of other political prisoners", - these were the only words he could say to the present. After this, he disappeared from politics for half a year and reappeared in London, where he obtained political asylum.
June brought another significant event, although it happened not in Belarus, but still was historical. The European football championship was held so close to us for the first time ever. It was possible to get to the final in Kyiv even without a visa, and the Belarusian state leader used this opportunity and watched the Italians' defeat from Spaniards with the score 4:0 live. The European leaders demonstratively kept a distance from Lukashenka.
As soon as the Euro-2012 was over, another event exploded in Belarus, the event which left a series of force structures heads jobless - the teddy bears landing. Belarusian special services and commanders of the air forces will see nightmares about the Swedish plane's flight over Minsk and Ivyanets for a long time to come. At first the Ministry of Defense called it a video and Photoshop fake Later, the KGB started a criminal case, journalist Anton Surapin and real estate broker Syarhei Basharymau were thrown to the KGB detention center, and the media made the case so loud that it was no point to deny the fact of the border violation any longer.
A new scandal started right after the teddy bears landing. If the failure at the Olympics in London and even the doping scandals in the track and field national team were predictable, the detective story with Nadzeya Astapchuk seems unbelievable.
"I will change my surname from Yafimau to Idiot. I will give you no more comment so far", - Astapchuk's coach Alyaksandr Yafimau told Euroradio. He allegedly put forbidden substances into the athlete's food without her knowing that. The version is disputable but Nadzeya Astapchuk had to return the London Olympics golden medal to the organizers.
The Autumn-2012 was rich in political events. First, there was the parliamentary election which was too quiet even for Belarus. The only surprise was that 109 people were elected to the House of Representatives instead of 110. The incident happened in Homel, where the pro-governmental candidate withdrew and the people unexpectedly voted against the member of the Liberal Democratic Party who ran on a non-alternative basis. On the whole, the election was predictable. The list of winners, made by Euroradio a month before the voting, came true by 94%.
Another event which can beat abolishment of serfdom back in 1861 by Alyaksandr II - the decree of the Belarusian state leader "On Wood-processing Enterprises", which in fact banned the wood industry workers to quit their jobs. We'll see the results of this initiative in 2013.
There were several more important events in 2012, like appointment of Barys Svyatlou as a Minister of Culture, Andrei Kabyakou's return to the Belarusian politics (he headed the Presidential Administration), Vadzim Zaitsau's discharge from the position of the KGB head and unexpected appearance of Uladzimir Makey in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
