RUSSIA Minsk, two Catholic priests arrested

Father Vjačeslav Barok published an image of a work of art with a swastika and the inscription: “Stop Lukashism”. Father Vitalij Bystrov, a Greek Catholic, married with three children, only stopped in front of a demonstration. Bishop of Minsk: “The repression of the Catholic Church in our country is increasing.

Moscow (AsiaNews) – The prosecutor in Vitebsk (Belarus) yesterday ordered the arrest and detention for 10 days of Catholic priest Vjačeslav Barok. He is accused of having published on his Facebook page the work of an artist, Vladimir Tsezler, entitled “Stop to Lukashism”. It represents a swastika in the colors of the “official” flag, established by President Lukashenko (photo 1). Radio Svoboda claims that the priest was accused of public demonstration and propaganda of Nazi symbols, violating article 17.10 of the penal code. The priest will serve his sentence in Novopolotsk prison.

On his website, Tsezler himself defined the interpretation of his absurd and deviant work: the use of the Nazi symbol has exactly the opposite purpose, that of denouncing the dictatorship. Father Barok (photo 2) considers his arrest to be political persecution. A policeman noticed his post on November 25; the priest explained to him that it was the work of an artist, and that he is “absolutely opposed to fascism of all kinds, to communism and to any totalitarian regime, and I had put this manifesto in protest against the violence in the country “. In any case, concluded the parish priest, “I have packed my bag for a long time, in case they come to get me”.

A few days earlier, on November 30, in Ivatsevichak, a Greek-Catholic priest, Father Vitalij Bystrov (photo 3), had received the same sentence of 10 days in prison. According to the Tut.by website, Father Vitalij was indicted under Article 23.34 for participating in a protest action in the city of Brest, where he went for a celebration on October 25.

However, Belarusian Greek Catholics Tsarkva The magazine explains that in reality Father Vitalij had simply stopped by the side of the road, when passing an unauthorized protest march. In front of the judge, the same priest said that “next to me a cyclist with a white-red-white flag had stopped, and he was immediately surrounded by police … I did not move, and a few minutes later I went to the station to get home, “but was then charged and arrested. Father Vitalij is a married priest with three children, who also works as a labor protection engineer on a large farm.

The Catholic bishop of Minsk Jurij Kosobutskij (photo 4), regent of the archdiocese in the absence of the metropolitan in exile Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, publicly condemned these arrests on his social pages: “We see this repression against the Catholic Church in our country. We denounce all sin, all violence, we are against all lies and counterfeits, all forms of repression and any attempt to sow terror in the population, we are against the humiliation of human dignity, since every man is created out of the image and likeness of God “We pray in particular for harmony, social peace, solidarity and unity of the Belarusian people. Unfortunately, some believe that all of this is a form of extremism and incitement to conflict “.

The bishop launched a new call to “listen to our prayers for the homeland, for our people, for those who are behind bars for political reasons, for those who are fired for their opinions, for those who are intimidated and subjected to the blackmail, for all those who are suffering, and for all those who are in particular need of our spiritual support, in particular for priests Vjačeslav Barok and Vitalij Bystrov ”.