By Keith Walsh
In a move that reminds us how fortunate we are in the West, authorities in Belarus have sentenced three members of the popular dissident rock band Nizkiz to two years of hard labor in a correctional facility.
In the U.S. and western Europe, rock stars enjoy excesses of freedom and privilege to freely express their ideas, even though facile lyrics are the norm, while political lyrics are often in harmony with mainstream trends. However in the Eastern European country of 9.5 million people that borders both Russia and Ukraine, unwanted ideas are controlled by the harshest of measures. It shouldn’t come as a surprise though – the election in 2020 of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko to his sixth term points to a system that’s out of balance.
“Rules” is a song by Nizkiz that became an anthem for the hordes of protesters who flooded the streets throughout the country to challenge the disputed election results. In January 2024, the band’s three core members – Alyaksandr Ilyin, Siarhei Kulsha and Dzmitry Khalyaulkin were detained and eventually charged with “organizing and plotting actions grossly violating public order.”
During the protests and their aftermath, 35,000 Belarusians were arrested, and like the members of Nizkiz labelled “extremists” by inclusion on a list of those perceived as threats. In all fairness, I do not have access English translations of the lyrics that were so popular with protesters, and can not pass judgment on their nature. It is an interesting point that in political theory, speech is often thought of as equivalent to action.
Info sourced from ABC News
Nizkiz Official YouTube
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