Mahiliou: 18-year-old activist is expelled from last year of lyceum

07.11.2008. Tags: Young Front, political persecution, students, expulsion, Belarusian Christian Democracy.
Source: RFE/RL.

18-year-old activist Stanislau Senakosau has been expelled from Mahiliou professional lyceum #2. According to him, it was revenge for his political activities, while the administration of the lyceum states that the reason is a rude violation of discipline.

Stanislau Senakosau has been many times detained by Mahiliou police during youth street actions and the lyceum administration knew about it.

‘I think that my expulsion is connected with my public activities. During a talk with me the administration said that I would have problems unless I stopped my activities. They said they would expel me when I turn 18. I did not pay much attention to it at that time. Recently I have turned 18 and missed one lesson. As a result there was signed an order for my expulsion. There it was written that I had violated the internal regulations.’

After the expulsions the boy went to an evening school. Then he intends to start working at a factory. He is not going to give up his public activities.

The lyceum administration states that the Senakosau has been expelled for having insulted a cloackroom attendant. ‘We did not throw him out to the street. The social employment center has an evening school. But now we have some means to show to others on his example that one can’t behave like that,’ they said.

Stanislau’s expulsion is the third one in Mahiliou. Tatsiana Shambalava (a coordinator of the organizing committee of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party) and an activist of the Young Front Rastsislau Pankratau were expelled from Mahiliou State University for allegedly poor academic progress. In fact, the political motivation of such expulsions seems more than evident.