Yaraslau Bekish: By deporting Tonkacheva the state might want to demoralize the whole third sector

Resolving the issue with Elena Tonkacheva’s deportation the authorities have not only satisfied their own needs for personal revenge but also tried to demoralize the whole third sector.

Let us recall that on November 5 Belarusan authorities decided to deport Elena Tonkacheva, human rights defender, the Chair of the Board of the Legal Transformation Center “Lawtrend”. She is to leave Belarus within a month and is deprived of the right of entry for three years. Administrative offences in the form of minor speedings while driving registered by cameras pose threat to public order in Belarus.

The causes and motivation of the authorities “EuroBelarus” Information Service discussed with Yaraslau Bekish, the Coordinator of the ecological association “Green network”.

- What do you think, how much will the third sector of Belarus lose from the situation when Elena Tonkacheva is no longer able to work in Belarus?

- I think it will depend on Elena herself. If she isn’t able to do what she does now we will lose a lot. But she is not the kind of person to stop only because someone has decided to cancel her residence permit and deport her from the country.

We should help her settle in a new flat, make her life comfortable as much as we can if she’ll need that help.

Elena is in good health and sound mind so we don’t lose anything.

- What is the sense to deport her then, if in today’s situation she can work for Belarus distantly, from some other country?

- I have read several theories that touch upon possible reasons for the decision to deport Tonkacheva from Belarus. I would name three of them.

First, it might be overcautiousness. Belarus is situated in unstable region in relation to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and Belarusan authorities still have to simulate internal elections. That is why such people as Elena should be send as far as possible.

Secondly, it is obvious that while working, Tonkacheva annoyed many officials, including those from the law enforcement agencies. She had a campaign for alternative service, monitoring of how human rights are observed in the army.

And of course, after the election campaign of 2010 she has done a lot defending the rights of the repressed politicians and common citizens. Elena is irritating for the defence and law enforcement agencies, and the decision to deport her is just their petty revenge.

Thirdly, it is an open secret that Tonkacheva is one of the opinion leaders in the third sector. And from this perspective the authorities were trying to infringe damage to the third sector so that to demoralize it. They have partially reached their goal as many people lost courage, and a lot of people are just getting angry because of that.

- Did the authorities really see an enemy in Tonkacheva?

- By Constitution, Belarus is a jural state. Tonkacheva is a lawyer and a human rights fighter who requires compliance with the constitutional norms from the state, while the authorities have built a state that doesn’t abide by laws. In this situation Tonkacheva is an opponent of the regime, who makes it complicated to violate human rights and make fools of people. The authorities find it hard to communicate with her without abiding by all legal procedures.

Tonkacheva is an irritating factor for a lot of people including the officials in the Ministry for Internal Affairs, Ministry of Defence, KGB, and Administration of the President. Their ideas about law, honor, and dignity differ. However, she managed to be the same irritating factor for the European and Russian officials.

- Is it somehow possible to influence the decision regarding Elena’s deportation in a month?

- It is hard for me to say. We might be able to do that somehow. Now we have a precedent; but we should try and influence the authorities so that no such cases happen in future.

- What do you think will be the reaction of the international authorities on the situation with Elena Tonkacheva’s deportation? There was an opinion that the response to this case might be comparable with the arrest of Ales Bialiatski.

- The cases and the punishment are still different, even though they are equally unjust and unreasonable in respect of the respected people who have helped a lot of people in Belarus.

In Belarus, the authorities are trying to take hostages so that to use them in bargaining with the EU since 2010. But today people in the EU who think that we should communicate with the Belarusan dictate under any circumstances, as a new monster in the person of Vladimir Putin appeared nearby. I don’t think that in this situation Elena Tonkacheva’s deportation will be a significant factor that influences the development of Belarus-Europe relations. And inside Belarus the decision about her deportation was, probably, quite independent of the Belarus-Europe context.