Another demonstration is scheduled to start at 11:00 on May 1. The original plan was to protest against the contract system, but now the main theme will be to demand immediate release of the political prisoners. Both Lukashenko’s rivals – Milinkevich and Kozulin – are in jail. Besides, there are many others including the leadership of the election monitoring group Partnership – Mikałaj Astrejka, Cimafiej Drančuk, Alaksandar Šałajka and Enira Branickaja – who have been behind bars for two months now. Since the arrest, their parents were not allowed to see them. And the defendants were accused of acting on behalf of the unregistered organization. Shortly before the election, this had become a felony in Belarus.
Unfortunately, it is hard to imagine that the tomorrow’s event will draw a lot of people. The authorities have refused to allow a concert at Bangalor square, and yet there may be some music and singing at the venue. There’s not so much information online about the next protest, and looks like the preparation is a little bit spontaneous and hasty. It seems to me the wave of street protest is declining, the momentum is dying out. And it’s not just because the stamina of the people is lost or the fear of repressions is growing, but this is turning into re-runs, series of repetitious actions with no clear-cut strategy or goal.
I am afraid we may end up with the 1996 scenario when approximately the same numbers went out to the street rallies, but then the wave abated, for the people saw no point because the protests yielded no fruit.
I think this is now crucial for the Belarusian civil society to: (a) spread the message about the March events throughout the country; (b) involve all the new people who joined in during the campaign and post-election protests; (c) properly plan the next actions. It is also important to step forward into the new millennium and, although our situation is so similar to the Marshal Law in Poland, there are so many new forms of communication which can and should be used more efficiently. Somebody on Livejournal suggested that Belarusian revolutionaries should use CD-R and DVD disks to spread the audiovisual information about the events. Indeed, there is quite a lot of quality footage of the “Days of Freedom,” Belarusian music, documentaries and so on. This kind of stuff is much more expedient than antediluvian leaflets.
Yes, not too many Belarusians have high speed Internet access, but many do have computers even in the back of beyond. So here are my two cents for Belarusian grant seekers – let us storm the Belarusian society with revolutionary CDs, electronic books about Lukashenka, political satire, videos, documentaries, etc. We have so many great designers and programmers who can make those disks look attractive and professional. It is time to be creative!