“Foul-mouth” from Akrestsina: “I avoid insulting people!"

O tempora, o mores! The police statistic information proves (!) that Belarusians are going wild. Intelligent people are getting detained for swearing in public places. You could never expect these people to swear!

Head of the ecological organization "Ecodom" Iryna Suhiy stood trial for swearing on July 18:

“There were a  lot of my colleagues in the court room. When policemen started saying that they could hear me swearing and see me waving my hands at a distance of 50 meters... All the present closed their mouths with their hands just to avoid roaring with laugher”.

Iryna Suhiy. Belarusian policemen understood that she was a foul-mouth at a distance of 50 meters

Sometimes it is hard to avoid using strong language, says Iryna.

Iryna Suhiy: “I was very close to using bad words when information about Tanya Novikava and Andrei Azharovski appeared on the evening of July 18. All the District Departments of the Interior refused to admit that they had been detained. They stood trial only when the working day was over in all courts. They were allowed to make phone calls only after 11 p.m. when they had been delivered to Akreststina”.

Andrei Azharovski, nuclear physicist and activist of the anti-nuclear campaign, was jailed for 10 days for swearing in a public place. Tatstsyana Novkava was jailed for 5 days. It is impossible to discuss it with them at the moment. That is why I asked Iryna Suhiy "to replace" her colleagues and say a few "admissible" bad words. She was embarrassed.

Editor-in-chief of "Nasha Niva" Andrei Dynko did not yield to my provocation either:

“It is not common in my family. My parents and grandparents have never used bad language".

Andrei Dynko

Andrei Dynko was the first Belarusian intellectual detained for swearing in 2006. According to him, nothing has changed in the repressive "procedure" since then. Policemen were also used as witnesses in such caces 5 years ago:

Andrei Dynko: “There were two members of special police troops. Their surnames were Shushko and Pachtsenny".

Who could doubt that "Pachtsenny" ("respectable") would defeat the intellectual in court...

Academic director of Belarusian Institute For Strategic Studies  Alyaksei Pikulik was accused of swearing on May 31. The political scientist often gives interviews to Euroradio as an expert.

Alyaksei Pikulik

BSU teacher Pavel Barkouski was delivered to Akrestsina detention centre together with the other detained on the night of December 20, 2010. The fact became notorious after the photo with a cult inscription had appeared on the Internet:

“C.Phil. and associate professor  Ala Victarauna Barkouskaya and C.Phil. and associate professor   Volha Mikalayeuna Shparaha have brought a parcel for C.Phil. and associate professor  Pavel Uladzimiravich Barkouski to the detention centre in Akrestsina Street".

“I avoid insulting people, - reasons Pavel Barkouski. - This vocabulary is not common in my surroundings. Situations when such words could be used can emerge at home. But this is not for public places".

The philosopher who celebrated New Year 2011 in Akrsetsina because he had been jailed for swearing in a public place answers my question about the words that come to his mind when he reads messages about new detentions for swearing in a public place in the expected cultured way:

Pavel Barkouski: “The state of our legal system insults me. In my opinion, it does not correspond to any norms accepted here. It needs drastic reforms".

Photo by: Andrei Kabanau, Radio "Liberty", Labadzenka.bY.