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Liavon Volski: Do Not Fear, Celebrate Freedom Day To Spite Enemies

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Liavon Volski: Do Not Fear, Celebrate Freedom Day To Spite Enemies
LIAVON VOLSKI (IN THE CENTER)
PHOTO: VADZIM ZAMIROUSKI / TUT.BY

The legendary musician thanked Belarusians for solidarity.

Famous Belarusian musicians Liavon Volski, Zmitser Vaitsiushkevich, Ihar Varashkevich and Pavel Arakelian were detained during the Freedom Day celebration in the center of Minsk yesterday. They were released in several hours.

The website Charter97.org asked legendary Belarusian rock-musician Liavon Volski to comment upon the notorious event:

- You know, this is an exagerration to say we were going to play a concert yersterday night. Even if we wanted to, we would not manage to play anything at all. We just walked along the street, then we were standing there talking, some of us had musical instruments, when a bus with riot policemen arrived. They “asked” us to proceed with them.

- Did the law-enforcers realize they were detaining famous musicians? How did they behave?

- I think they knew everything, as they behaved as politely as they could. They did not even prevent us from using cell phones in the police bus. They just kept silence.

- What happened in the Central district police department where they delivered you?

- Traditional staff. We stood facing the wall for two hours. After that, they recorded from our words that we were in the center of the city in the street and for some reason we were detained and taken to the police department. Nothing interesting, you know, everything is prosaic.

- This is clear. How do you think, why did they need to detain you right in the street?

- Apparently, they really did not want people to sing our songs. It really hurt someone yesterday. It is clear that if they were smart people, they would first give us an opportunity to play, and then they would incriminate us with “disturbing order”.

- The people who saw your detention refused to go even under the threat of arrest, but sang your famous hit “Three Turtles” instead. What does their deed mean to you?

- Naturally, I am very pleased. I am very grateful to these people and admire the fact that they were not afraid of the policeman who ran there and spoke in a funny way about the “unauthorized assembly” in the evening in the center of the city.

On weekends, a large number of people gather in this area just for fun. This is a center, a pedestrian zone, there are many restaurants. I think that the guests of Belarus were watching our detention.

- How can this affect the image of Belarus?

- I think it will not. Therefore, the authorities allow themselves such “gestures”. They think that everyone has accepted the situation as it is now. Previously, they didn’t allow themselves such behavior, but now they have decided that they can. There are no sanctions, everything is “normal”.

- Freedom Day is celebrated by many Belarusians around the world. What would you like to say to your fans and those people who celebrate March 25 as a national holiday?

- I would like to congratulate everyone once again and say that we need to celebrate Freedom Day. March 25 is a really important date for every Belarusian. On that day, the real independence of our country began!

In general, I congratulate everyone. Do not fear anything, celebrate Freedom Day to spite the enemies!

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