BELARUS

“What was the well-known neo-Nazi doing among the policemen in civilian clothes and why did they grab people pointed out by him?”

Nazis attack young people after rock concert in Minsk

On March 16, 2005 a group of 20-30 nazi-skinheads, presumably with the support of policemen in civilian clothes, attacked young people who were returning after a rock concert that took place in the Minsk club "Leo". As a result of the conflict three visitors of the concert were hospitalized: two of them received knife wounds, the third sustained cranio-cerebral injury. A 15-year-old boy, who received a knife stab in his back, was taken to the Children's Surgery Center. On March 16 there was a large rock event in the club "Leo". Among the numerous audiences there were journalists from major TV-channels and the press of Belarus (the First Musical Channel, the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belorussii", etc.)

An hour and a half before the end of the concert a man in civilian clothes came up to the organizer of the event, introduced himself as a policeman and warned about a group of aggressive nazi-skinheads being near the club. Also he advised the visitors to not go out of the club. After that he walked around the club and then left. The concert successfully continued and ended about 21:30 when the first visitors started to leave. When people got out to the front steps, at a distance of 15 meters they noticed a group of 20-30 nazi-skinheads armed with bludgeons, and, as it turned out later, knives. The nazis first tried to attack a company of 5-8 girls and boys going home but the young people managed to hide in the club, having run into the lobby. Guards immediately blocked the entrance to the building. By that time alarmed visitors had gathered in the lobby and simultaneously poured into the street where they were repeatedly attacked by the nazis and had to defend themselves. During the fight Maksim Sh. of 15 years received a knife stab in his back; Artiom K. was badly wounded with two knife stabs in his liver. The third person was hospitalized with head injury. Some more people sustained minor injuries. After the assault the nazis, who hadn't expected to meet with an adequate rebuff, ran away.

The injured were carried into the building, and people called in an ambulance while rendering medical care as best they could. Later the young people noticed a group of nazi-skinheads to all appearance on the other side of Skoryna Ave. (near the club). According to some witnesses there was a man with a video-camera among them. This group of people ware coming confidently across the avenue taking out weapons in an emphatic manner. A part of the concert visitors following the instinct of self-preservation tried to hide in the club making a throng by the entrance. At this moment the group of armed people fired a gas weapon. There were at least two shots. The club's premises, especially the lobby where the injured people were, was filled with gas.

As it turned out these people were policemen in civilian clothes (they showed their documents, and some of them were also later seen in the night in the Pervomayskii Department of Inner Affairs - one of the city's police departments, and they held police portable radio transmitters), and among them there was a well-known Minsk neo-nazi and football hooligan Aleksandr "Footballer" Shcherbich, who was pointing a finger at some people among the concert visitors. The policemen in civilian clothes tried to use force on the people pointed out, but the crowd became indignant and the guys pointed out were left alone by the police.

Some time later the man who warned the organizers about the possible assault of the nazis, was seen again in the club and this time he wore "strange" clothes - the nazi-skinheads wore clothes like that. By that time several police cars drove up to the club, most likely they had been called by the club's administration with an "alarm button". And only after 10 minutes after the police's arrival the ambulance appeared - it took them 40 minutes to come after the call! The police conducted themselves very easy, calmly and didn't show any surprise at all the things that had happened. The policemen in civilian clothes, who had just fired at the crowd, were even speaking to the troops that had arrived.

Later in the night the two injured guys were operated on and at the moment they are in a satisfactory condition. To our knowledge 7 nazi-skinheads were detained for participation in the attack. The Main Department of Internal Affairs of Minsk City Executive Committee reports about several detained persons and opening of a criminal case for hooliganism. The words "fascist", "skinhead", etc. don't appear in the case. Also it mentions that among the assaulters there were nazis not only from Minsk but from other Belarusian cities as well which allows us to draw a conclusion that the action was planned.
We as participants and witnesses of the events have a range of natural questions:

• why didn't the police prevent the conflict, although they had information about the possibility of attack?
• how to explain the shooting with gas weapon at the concert visitors, who were not aggressors in the conflict?
• what was the well-known neo-nazi doing among the policemen in civilian clothes and why did they grab people pointed by him?
• why did it take so long for police troops and the ambulance to come to the place of the attack?
• was it a provocation by the government and what did it have as its object?

Receiver's correspondent
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BUSINESS OF US ALL

There are no "mistaken" victims of nazi violence - everyone among us is a potential victim. We all are illegal immigrants, skinheads, homeless alcoholics, hip-hoppers, punks, queers, hippies, disabled, metallist, meshket-turks, straight-edger's or women; all of us deserve the hate of "patriotic citizens". All of us are a shame to our motherland. If you are not "flushed down the toilet" today, your turn will be tomorrow. A nazi iron bar in our brains - it is just another kiss from the regime of Putin and the oligarchs. The system, in which you have just as much value as you may bring profit to your employer, creates dirt, which is most willing to kill all those who do not conform. Being a victim is first of all a certain type of mentality. If you just let your head down and lick your wounds, and hope that next time they will come for someone else, they will come for you for sure.

AUTONOMOUS ANTIFA

It is not a movement, but a phenomenon. It is every ripped nazi-sticker, every covered swastika and celtic-cross, every kicked nazi ass. It is an opposite of any hierarchies, opposite of everything what Nazism represents, opposite of any orders - it is business between you and your close friends only. It is love against hate. It is not an avant-garde of tou ghest fighters, because bravery is not equal to conscience. It does not play by rules, since murderers of 6 year old girls also do not play. There is no administration, no structure - only solidarity. Nor any financing: liberal "anti-fascist" NGO's, living by grants, always shat their pants before they got to any real business. These yuppies are not a solution to the problem, just as the solution will not be in the hands of bureaucrats, cops or politicians. We will ask nothing from them, because we are not living for power, but for freedom. And in order to reach it, we have nothing but our resistance. And you, friend, will not be able to contact with us, looking for our address - because we are everywhere, and perhaps you have already joined us!