They were the main organizers of the so-called Exchange Square in Minsk, which became a national symbol of the protests against the Lukashenko government after the presidential elections in August 2020. Now, this Belarusian family is asking for political asylum in Spain so as not to be deported to Belarus, where they claim they would be detained and tortured for their activism.
The electoral fraud of August 9, 2020, where the dictator, who has been in power for almost 30 years, obtained the usual 80% of the votes, unleashed an unprecedented wave of massive protests throughout the country. After an almost general mobilization -with strikes in the factories and demonstrations in the streets- that lasted three months, and a repressive strategy based on terror, which ended with 400 political prisoners and more than a thousand prosecuted, Lukashenko managed to stay in the can.
Y., who does not want to reveal her name for fear of repression, is a dentist, just like her husband. She became involved in the protests on August 13, when they organized the first demonstration of doctors and dentists. Her husband had participated in others. “We were caring for victims of the authorities' beatings, rapes and torture, so we went out to protest the violence. We also started offering free assistance to victims, ”she explains in a videoconference conversation.
On the night of August 20, days after the government forced opposition leader Svetlana Tijanóvskaya to flee to Lithuania, and the European Union met to discuss sanctions against the regime, Y.'s husband came out to the neighborhood patio with the national flag -the red and white-. There he discussed with friends about the political situation. Some neighbors joined them. It was then that the appointment became daily. “The level of support for Lukashenko was very low at the time. And, although we were afraid to even leave the house, our neighbors supported us; people had hopes of change”, says Y.
In the following three months, that block patio became a meeting point for activists, singers and civilian opponents of the regime from all over Belarus. Already under the name of Plaza de los Cambios, the space hosted concerts, a protest mural that had to be restored on several occasions and all kinds of protests.
“We know that we are under surveillance for being the organizers of the actions that took place in the square. Days after I fled the country, my neighbor called me and told me that the police had broken into my house. Another police officer asked my father-in-law about our whereabouts”, explains Y.
The activity of the Square ceased in the winter of 2020, when the protests died down throughout Belarus. The trigger was the murder of activist Roman Bondarenko. "Some policemen threw him to the ground, beat him and dragged him to his van," says Y., who assures that the activist died in the hospital without having regained consciousness. He never imagined that the repression would be so strong.
Stepan Latípov, another of the activists who frequented the neighborhood space, was also arrested for protecting the mural in the square. A year after the protests, Latípov tried to commit suicide in full court, although that was not the only attempt. "His arrest of him and his suicide attempts were a terrible shock to us. He was very humane and empathetic and was always in favor of respecting the law," says the dentist.
The authorities developed their strategy of fear for months. “The police used to go to houses at dawn, when we were all asleep, to arrest people. We spent half a year waking up at those hours for fear that they would break in and arrest us. Above all, I was afraid when I was alone at home with my daughters”, says Y., who breaks down in tears.
At the beginning of March 2022, the director of the clinic where she worked told her that "you're stupid, you don't understand what you're getting into, you shouldn't care for this type of patient", and made it clear that they would not defend her if there were official complaints. . She resigned from her job.
Half of the activists who challenged power from the square are today detained and the rest have fled the country. Y.'s family got the visa for Spain -now expired-, but they had to leave by road to Estonia last April, because there were no flights from Belarus. There they requested political asylum, but the Estonian authorities have deported them to Spain, which is the one that has to "take charge" of their situation, according to the Dublin Procedure, which protects them.
Y. will arrive in Spain tomorrow, December 5, with her husband and daughters, aged five and eight, accompanied by the Estonian police. Her hopes are that, upon her arrival at the airport, the authorities will interview them and treat them as asylum seekers while they examine her file, a process that can take years to resolve.
If the interview does not take place, they will be in an irregular situation and must make an appointment to apply for asylum on their own. The problem, according to Y., is that the government is not giving appointments. But they will do whatever it takes to avoid going back to Belarus, because they are convinced that "as long as we cross the border, the regime will stop us."
