Daring to make a stand

Activists in Belarus protesting at the result of last week's election talk to Chris Stephen in Minsk - just before police arrest them all

They are either the vanguard of Europe's newest pro-democracy movement, or a group of doomed idealists. Or quite possibly both. After Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko, dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the US, declared himself the winner of disputed elections last Sunday, a few thousand, mostly young, activists huddled in Minsk's snow-blown October Square, demanding a re-run.

They were expecting reinforcements in support of opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich's call for a day of protest. But unlike Ukraine's Orange Revolution, their colourful and noisy protest failed to galvanise an apathetic and wary population, and numbers remained small.

I spoke to some of the protesters, just hours before police stormed their camp of about 30 tents early yesterday morning, detaining hundreds of demonstrators.

YEVGENIA, A PENSIONER, patrols the fringes of the camp waving the old Belarus flag, white with a red stripe down it.

The flag, first flown more than four centuries ago, became the national emblem in 1991 when the Soviet Union broke up and Belarus became independent. Lukashenko later replaced it with the red and green banner that was the flag of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus.

"The flag I am waving is our true flag," she says.

"It is not the flag of the state, not the flag of communism, it is the flag of the Belarus nation. It has a great history, it was our flag at the battle of Grunwald [in 1410]. Life under Lukashenko is very bad for pensioners.

"I have $130 (€108) a month to live on. For someone living in the city it is not enough. Many pensioners feel the same way as me, all over Minsk, but they are nervous to come. I don't care about the police. What can they do to me?"

LENA (27), A SINGER, lives in one of the tents.

"In Belarus today it is difficult to do anything if you are not connected to the state. The only bands played on radio or concerts given are those approved by the state, so you can imagine the rock scene here is not good. In Belarus the state controls everything. I am a Pentecostal Protestant but we are banned because Orthodox is the only official religion, so we have to meet in underground churches. Our priests are arrested if they are discovered."

YAROSLAV (16), A HIGH-SCHOOL PUPIL, also lives in the tents and accompanies rock music played over loudspeakers with his drum.

"I was a student in sixth form college until a few days ago. Then they were cleaning the dorm and they found some opposition stickers among my stuff. So I was kicked out. So I came here - why not, I have nothing to lose. My brother was found on a train with opposition materials and he was put in jail. I'm protesting because life under Lukashenko has no future. When you graduate they send you to do a job far from the capital and you have to say yes, otherwise they make you pay back the cost of your education. Unless you have connections. Bribes are everything here. My parents worry about me but I'll stay as long as it takes. If they arrest me, they cannot keep me in jail because I am 16 and you have to be 18 to go to jail."

ANDREI (20), A COMPUTER PROGRAMMER, is the sound engineer for the protest's PA system.

"I've done PA systems for friends' parties before but nothing as difficult as this. The big problem is power - they won't let us run cables to the theatre next door, and if you notice they have cut the street lights to this part of the square, so we can't tap electricity that way. We use a small generator which means we don't get much amplification. We use it for speeches but also for music - that is very important to keep people motivated. It was donated by the opposition so they know they will lose it when the police come. "

ARTIOM (19), IS A STUDENT from neighbouring Ukraine and a veteran of that country's Orange Revolution.

"I've come here to show our support, because the people of Belarus feel like my brothers. I am wearing a scarf from that revolution. This protest has a good spirit, but I don't think it will succeed. In Kiev we had the people on our side. In Belarus they are afraid - for too many years they have been forced to live like animals in a herd."

MARINA (20), A LIBRARIAN, stands shivering in a red anorak and miniskirt 100 metres from the protest. "I am standing here because I can't decide. My friends are in there, but I don't understand all the issues. Politically I am not very educated, and I don't think I should join unless I can agree 100 per cent. People say different things about these elections. The older people support the government and the younger people want change. I agree with a lot of what my friends say, but the government also has its merits. For instance, Lukashenko just built a fine new library in Minsk, and it is well equipped."

KATYA (16), IS A HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENT who spends each day at the protest and goes home at night.

"I will stay here as long as it takes, that is for sure. It is cold, sure, but the truth warms me up.

"I have made many friends here, there is such a good atmosphere, people come and bring us tea and sandwiches. I have been protesting since I was eight. My father took me to demonstrations after Lukashenko came to power [in 1994]. A couple of times the police beat him badly. He is worried about what will happen to me if the police come, but he told me 'the beatings have ruined my kidneys, now you can take over the role'."

VICTOR VIKENZIY IS A PRIEST with a church that has broken from the main Orthodox hierarchy, critical of relations between the mainstream church and the government.

"Everything that happened in the elections was a total falsification by the government bodies. In the polling stations there was no control. The established church leaders are too close to the power, this is wrong. In communist times, the church was forbidden, and there are KGB men in the hierarchy. This protest will be hard because if you look at history, ever since Rome, not a single dictator has ever given up his power voluntarily. But only by struggling can the people of this nation regain their spirit. If the police break this up, the people will regain their spirit."