Belarusians in ice hockey flag protest

Members of Brussels’ Belarusian community held a picket in front of the city’s Swedish consulate on Wednesday to protest against recent controversial events at the Ice Hockey World Championship in Sweden, the pro-democracy Charter 97 organisation reports. Security guards objected to the unfurling of a huge red-and-white flag (a symbol of the opposition to the regime of Alexander Lukashenko) at the Belarus-Slovenia game, quoting safety rules. Some fans had their arms twisted and were kicked out of the arena. Zmitser Pimenau, head of the Belarusian-European Association and member of the Council of the Belarusian People’s Republic, said: “The police of Brussels allowed the picket and we went to the consulate of Sweden. We had Belarusian national white-red-white flags and a placard saying ‘Democracy is not where people play hockey, but where freedom is respected’ and a placard depicting the Swedish flags and crossed-out green-and-red hockey sticks. Journalists and passers-by supported our protest. A building of the European Parliament is nearby, so some politicians came and expressed their solidarity and support.” He added that the consulate staff had taken the picket sympathetically and came out to the protesters. “They said the ban on flags was provoked by the International Ice Hockey Federation and the Swedish police demonstrated political ignorance. They said Sweden perceived the situation negatively and the authorities knew the white-red-white flag is a historical one and can be used at sporting events. We were invited to meet the consul, Ms Lilliehöök, who said a few words of support and said the topic had not been forgotten in Sweden and was regularly raised in the media.”