Participants of "Hukannie Viasny" Detained in Homel Restaurant. They Face Arrest and Large Fines
In the center of Homel on March 21, law enforcement officers detained a group of people who were relaxing in a restaurant. As it became known to "Homel Viasna," they were celebrating "Hukannie Viasny" (Calling of Spring). Several dozen people, including children, took part in the ritual. Everything took place in the restaurant's enclosed courtyard — that is, not in an open area, not in a square, or even on a city street, human rights defenders emphasize.
Screenshot of a TikTok video
Details of the incident are not yet available, but, as the "Flagstok" publication found out, it might be about an event at the "Spadchyna" (Heritage) restaurant on Savetskaya Street, 1 (the "Palesdruk" building), near Lenin Square.
This is a new restaurant that opened last year. Since then, they offer not only dishes of Belarusian cuisine but also organize thematic lecture-tastings. They also periodically held master classes "Dances by the Stove," and in January organized "Kalyadki" (Christmas Carols).
Thus, the restaurant was a kind of unofficial center of traditional Belarusian culture. Even a police officer participated in the events — Major Viktor Shypkou, senior district inspector of Homel District Internal Affairs Department, this year awarded Lukashenka's prize "For Spiritual Revival" — for "a significant personal contribution to the preservation of folk traditions, ethnographic research, and reconstruction of costumes of the Homel region."
Why this circle of traditional Belarusian culture enthusiasts came under repression now is not yet known — there was no political context at the celebration.
According to a source from "Homel Viasna," the trial of some participants took place yesterday in the building of one of the District Internal Affairs Departments, and the judges were from courts of different districts. As a result, one person received 15 days of arrest, and others — fines of no less than 100 basic units. It is probable that the trials continue today.
The day before, as reported, "Hukannie Viasny" (Calling of Spring) in Vetka was canceled due to its coincidence with the date of the Khatyn tragedy, March 22.
But the event in Homel was held not on that day, but on March 21. Moreover, a similar celebration exactly on March 22 took place in Yel'sk and Mazyr under the patronage of the local museum. Regional television even made reports on this topic. On the same day, the ritual was held in Mazyr.
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