The members of the band Tor Band must now serve long prison sentences for a song they made in connection with the elections in Belarus. Frontman Dzmitry Halavach received nine years in prison. Yauhen Burlo was sentenced to eight years and Andrei Yaremchyk received seven and a half years in prison. – When the authorities arrest a cultural figure, they want to send a message to those who have not yet expressed their loyalty to the regime, says Pavel Sapelka from Vjasna to the BBC. Hundreds of thousands demonstrated in 2020 against President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who believed he had won the election with over 80 percent of the vote. President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has been in power in the country since 1994. Photo: Sergei Shelega / AP The demonstrators still believed that Lukashenko had rigged the election, and demanded that he step down. It was during this upsetting period that the rock band Tor Band got involved in writing a song about the uprising. The text does not mention Lukashenko, but he captured the spirit of the times and the rage that many protesters felt at the time. Accused of extremism and having insulted the president The simple but patriotic message in the song nevertheless fell heavily on Lukashenko and the regime. The band members were arrested in October 2022. The musicians were charged with extremism and insulting President Lukashenko. – They were blamed for being an extremist group on the basis of the lyrics in their songs. Those who have heard these songs know that they do not incite violence or incite hatred, says Pavel Sapelka. The band suffered the same fate as many other cultural performers in Belarus, according to PEN. Photo: Promo – Lukashenko’s regime shows its fear This is some of the lyrics in the melody, in translated version: “We are not cattle… and cowards”. “We are a living nation, we are Belarusians…” “With hope in our hearts, we hold steady course with the banner of freedom above our heads”. Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaja, who according to the opinion of the protesters won the election in 2020, has commented on the verdict. – Lukashenko’s regime shows its fear. The music may stop in the courts, but never in our hearts, he wrote on social media. Several have been arrested Tor Band is just the latest in a long line of cultural performers who have been stopped by the authorities since 2020. Artists who are considered disloyal to the Lukashenko government are often replaced with performers from Russia, PEN Belarus tells the BBC. Between January and June this year, there have been 925 cases of human rights violations, according to the organisation. Earlier this year, two musicians from the folk band Irdorath left the country after serving two years in prison for taking part in the protests. The artist Ales Pushkin died in prison in July. He served a five-year sentence for inciting hatred and “desecration of a state symbol”. Last week, the singer and TV host Lárisa Gribaleva was also arrested, according to Vjasna.
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Rock band sentenced to prison for several years for protest song – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
