MINSK SPIES
Three Ukrainian activists return home after abuse at the hands of police in Belarus.
Aleksandra Nemchinova, Inna Shevchenko, and Oksana Shechko are activists of the Women’s Movement ‘FEMEN’. They were abducted by KGB security officers (Belarus didn't bother rebranding its political police) during a protest against Belarus’ authoritarian president, beaten, humiliated and left naked in a forest. Femen is a Ukrainian protest group based in Kiev, founded in 2008. They have become known for topless protests against social, national and international struggles. The group believes in promoting leadership, intellectual and moral qualities in women. The three activists spoke to the media on Wednesday(21st) about their experience.
They were protesting in Minsk on Monday (19th) over President Aleksander Lukashenko's suppression of the opposition. They bared their breasts in protest wanting to bring attention to Belarus' very own despot . After the protest they were taken into a nearby woods by Belarusian security forces where they were interrogated for 12 hours, stripped of their clothes in below zero temperatures, covered in paint, had some of their hair cut off, smacked in the face, punched in the back and told they were going to be killed and raped. Later on they were forced to sit on a bus where they were not allowed to move or speak and were prevented from doing so by being beaten. In the end of their ordeal the three activists were left semi naked in the forest where they were eventually aided by locals in the area and contacted the Ukrainian embassy.
The protest in Minsk took place on the steps of the KGB headquarters, and it is one of many demonstrations against Lukanshensko. Lukanshensko became leader of the former Soviet republic in 1994 and has repressed opposition, dissent and independent media ever since. (See SchNEWS 765, 757). Scechko, 24, said “It was a real fight for survival, we ended up in the hands of the butchers who kill and terrify the Belarusian people.”
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