Local officials meet with Malady Front activists in Salihorsk

School No 4 in Salihorsk on December 6 hosted a meeting between the local officials and activists of the Malady Front youth pressure group. The bureaucrats said they wanted to get to know young oppositionists better and were interested in their aims and education and career endeavors. During the one-hour-and-a-half meeting, the sides touched on a wide range of issues, ranging from mashed potatoes to political prisoners.

The Malady Front was represented by brothers Ivan and Ilya Shyla, Christina Samoylava, Ryhor Astapenya and Andrus Tychyna. Their parents also came.

The authorities were represented by the former head of youth department at Minsk Regional Executive Committee, the second secretary of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union for Minsk region, the heads of education and ideology departments at Salihorsk district committee, police officiers in charge of working with minors, principles and teachers from the schools where Malady Front activists study.

Ivan Shyla told the European Radio for Belarus that the meeting did not look like a dialogue.

"I wouldn't say that there was a constructive dialogue. The regional officials said they only wanted to get to know us better. They asked about the aims of our activities and our future education plans. Although they did not tend to convert us away from our ideals, they did not seem to be willing to understand us either. They maintained that our operation was illegal and asked whether we were aware of that".

Youth Front