BCD activist achieves the removal of the Russian flag from the bus cab

An activist of the organizing committee of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Ales Kutasau, who asked the driver of the bus “Kalodzishchy-Minsk” to remove the flag of the Russian Federation from the front window,” was detained in Minsk.

Ales Kutasau asked the driver to remove the flag at the first stop after he got on the bus. However, the driver snapped and closed the window. The activist said he would pay the fare only after the flag would be removed.

As a result, he was taken to the bus depot and passed to the police. Mr. Kutasau was threatened all the time on the way there, and the conductor said that he allegedly acted rowdy and almost climbed into the driver's cab. However, she refused to testify against him and the driver removed the flag from the cab.

On the way to the police station the policemen expressed their indignation at Ales' speaking Belarusian, as far as according to them the Belarusian language didn't exist and Russia was Belarus' closest ally. In response, the activist said he considered the Russian flag as a symbol of the Russian occupation, and there should be no such things in the public transport, maintained at the cost of the taxes paid by the Belarusian citizens.

Ales Kutasau was kept at the police station for just ten minutes and then was let go. The policemen made a record about holding a prophylactic talk with him. The activist has filed an appeal concerning the incident with the state enterprise “Minsktrans”.