Zubr (political organization)

Subr ( Belarusian: ЗУБР; zubr English ) was a youth organization in Belarus, which was in opposition to President Alexander Lukashenko. She was influenced by the student movement Otpor and the writings of Gene Sharp on non-violent action. Became internationally known Zubr, as in 2005, the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Lithuania with their leaders.

The organization is named after the European bison ( Bison bonasus latin, russian Зубр ) named, venerated in Belarus as an emblem. As a founding year of Zubr is the year 2001, when President Lukashenka first introduced two years after the expiry of his normal term of office for re-election. In protest against the repression of the opposition were formed ( primarily in the area major cities of the country) youth groups who want to draw attention with its time unorthodox forms of protest to the illegality of the election and supported the opposition candidate Uladzimir Hancharyk. It was noteworthy that Zubr decreed without organizational ties to the established political forces over relatively costly materials, was so that not only speculated by government, the groups received financial support from the West.

In fact, in addition to the organization of spontaneous demonstrations included the deliberate placing of stickers with slogans and symbols of the organization in the public space to the forms of action Subrs, which was connected with former Belarusian income ratios with some financial cost and doubts about the self-image as a largely decentralized organized youth organization, according to allowed. However, the organization of an official registration remained during its existence between 2001 and 2006 under the given political circumstances denied, so that took place a large part of their activities in illegal or semi-legal framework, which provided space for a variety of speculations and assumptions. To this end, in addition to financing also includes the question of authorship for opposition campaigns:

We fear that in the American media, the attempt to take in the presidential election of 2006 to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine with a Belarusian denim revolution, go back to Zubr.

The members of the organization were often persecuted and arrested under the authoritarian state structures in Belarus Lukashenka. On 23 December 2005, the activist Pavel Modscharo, Alexander Morozov and more, the illegal possession of drugs, which had been slipped to them by civilian police officers, were arrested. On February 16, 2006, the Zubr leader Aleh Mjazeliza and Pawel Juchnewitsch, after canceling a peaceful demonstration for the release of political prisoners by the police, detained. Two other members were arrested while distributing Lukashenko critical sticker on February 20, 2006.

During the 2006 elections Zubr was closely linked to the opposition candidate of the United Democratic Forces of Belarus Alyaksandr Milinkevich. Even before the elections organized Zubr demonstrations against election fraud, but unlike the student organizations in Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine, their goals could not prevail. The camp, which they built in Minsk, was ultimately cleared by the police force again and the protests came to an end.

Subr worked after the elections, but had increased state repression withstand. In May 2006, the organization announced the end of its activities under the name Zubr and flowed along with various other Belarusian opposition forces.

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