Nine People to Stand Trial in Homyel over Celebration of Belarusian National Republic Anniversary

Nine people are expected to stand trial in Homyel over a celebration held in the city on March 23 on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the short-lived Belarusian National Republic.

As Dzmitry Kutasaw, a member of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party “Hramada,” told BelaPAN, on April 4, he and some others were summoned again to a district police department where they were notified that they had been charged with participation in an unsanctioned demonstration under Article 23.34 of the Administrative Offenses Code.

On March 23, some 30 people made a walking tour through Homyel, visiting places related to the life of Paluta Badunova, a member of the government of the Belarusian National Republic, including the place where her house had once stood.

The event ended with participants laying roses and carnations at the site and releasing white and red balloons.

Men in plain clothes were recording on video what participants called a “historical excursion.”

On March 28, nine participants were questioned at the Navabelitski district police department.

Paluta Badunova was one of the most outstanding female figures of Belarusian national revival in the early 20th century. In the mid-1920s, she abandoned political activities because of a serious illness but, nevertheless, she was arrested in 1937 and is believed to have been killed by the NKVD in 1938.