This method is going on strike. Refusing to work for this gang of oppressors and parasites, and being in different cities and in different industries, we will be able to show not just in words but with actions, that we are tired of injustice and poverty. (via Revolutionary Action )

In conditions where the government suppresses street protests in every possible way as soon as their power is threatened, it is worth remembering the method of struggle that can hit the authorities the hardest.

In Brest, an anarchist group hung a banner, painted graffiti and distributed leaflets to Brest residents. A banner was also hung in the city of Byaroza.

In Salihorsk, where workers recently went on strike, activists left graffiti that said: “Send Politicians Into The Mines”

In Minsk, a 20 meter banner was hung from the roof of the houses along Pushkin Avenue: “Tired Of Being Hungry? The Solution Is To Strike!”

On May 1st, on the day of remembrance of workers who died in the struggle for their rights, anarchists in various cities of Belarus conducted actions of agitation calling on the people of Belarus to strike and resist.

Today in three major cities of Belarus – Minsk, Mogilev and Grodno – people took the streets protesting against government attempts to collect tax off the unemployed (details of the story HERE..in Belrusian). In Minsk, demonstrations managed to gather more than 1,500 people, in Mogilev and Grodno 1,000 each.

These are the biggest protests those cities have seen in decades. It is worth mentioning that most of the protesters are far from major political powers in the country and do not align with any opposition stream, rather they prefer to point out the hard economic conditions and results of 24 years of Lukashenko’s rule.

Around 40 anarchists, organized in a separate block, participated in the demonstration with banners saying “For the people, the main social parasites are the bureaucrats, politicians and the police” (referring to the law against social parasites introduced in 2015 that is the major reason for recent protests).

To make the demonstration a little bit more fun, a samba band in black joined the block. In the demo anarchists were by far the most organized force and received a lot of attention from the police.

During the whole demonstration, 20-30 civil cops were constantly following the anarchist block and at the end of the demo they tried to arrest some people. Anarchists together with other participants of the demo managed to unarrest people and get into public transport – a tactic that was quite successful in the past months, when anarchists managed to get away safely.

However it was stopped a couple of minutes later by a bus without license plates and civil cops rushing into the public transport. To get the people out , the pigs used not only brute force beating up people, but also pepper sprayed the trolleybus (an action one of the football hooligans got 10 years in jail for in Belarus just last week).

At the end of the confrontation, around 30-35 people were detained including several bystanders, who were trying to help people resist the police. By the end of the day, some activists were beaten up so badly that the cops had to call an ambulance.

Right now, all the arrested are in jail in Minsk police stations awaiting trial tomorrow. Judging from recent developments, most probably they will be punished with 15 days in jail.

Furthermore it has been reported that over 9 people from the demonstration were detained in Mogilev. Their destiny is not clear yet.

Lawyers and food parcels are covered so far by human right activists. But you can always support people with solidarity actions next to local embassies or Lukashenko’s mansions. Apart from that you can share the news, and make the topic more visible around you.

At the moment this article was written, over 150 people were detained and sentenced to fines or some short prison terms for protests in Belarus.

Source

From Rojava to Belarus: Solidarity with the Anarchist Prisoners . IRPGF statement