If youre scared stay at home, and thats it, so. Eric Maria Pugachjova is a 27yearold Office Worker who wants to be just like nina. Maria shes really inspiring person definitely. Shes not scared of anything. She doesnt give a flying f about all of the police and everything. [crowd chanting] eric maria and nina are part of an extraordinary uprising led by women in the former soviet republic of belarus. President Alexander Lukashenko is europes longestruling dictator, but hes faced near daily protests since august when he refused to give up power to a woman. Eric working with local filmmakers, weve been following some of the key women in this revolution. Crew member were recording now, eric, we can go. Eric among them Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who had to flee the country after she ran for president. Eric Alexander Lukashenko has declared himself president of belarus, but am i talking to the rightful elected president of belarus now . Svetlana tikhanovskaya for sure you are. [laughing] [horns blaring] eric i started covering lukashenko in the mid1990s. Thats how long hes been in power. Even back then it was a similar situation. Eric lukashenko may not have the law on his side, but he does control the police and security service. And they appear willing to do whatever it takes to stop his opponents. Eric as the abc correspondent based in moscow, i watched how he kept russias small neighbor in check by crushing protests and jailing any genuine challengers. He did the same ahead of last years election, locking up the men who ran the opposition, but this time the women took over. [man speaking Foreign Language over loudspeaker] eric Svetlana Tikhanovskaya became the main opposition candidate after her activist husband was jailed. [crowd cheering] svetlana my first step was made only for my husband because he was in jail. He couldnt participate himself. But what he was doing for people was very important for him, so i just decided to support him somehow and gave my documents instead of him. Eric her campaign captured the publics imagination, rather more than lukashenkos insistence that women belonged in the kitchen. He even suggested thered be no point debating her. Eric knowing how ruthless he could be, tikhanovskaya sent her Young Children across the border to the lithuanian capital vilnius, but as election day approached it seemed victory was hers. Eric did you ever expect to win . Did you expect to get so much support . Svetlana im representative of several candidates. Im, like, not as Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. Im a person who is opposite to lukashenko, and all those people who would vote separately for different candidates, they voted for me as for united candidate. Eric but lukashenko had no intention of handing over power. The Electoral Commission declared he had won by a landslide, claiming one in ten voted for tikhanovskaya. Hundreds of thousands stormed the streets in protest to be met by an army of riot police. When tikhanovskaya challenged the result, she was threatened with jail. Svetlana i have to choose just to stay in belarus and go straight to jail, or i can leave country and join my children in vilnius. That was the choice. Eric that night she was allowed to cross to lithuania to join her fiveyearold daughter and tenyearold son. She recorded a video asking forgiveness for leaving. Eric the protests went on regardless as tikhanovskaya tried to represent them from abroad. The crackdown was immediate and brutal. Within hours, a protestor, alexander taraikovsky, was shot dead. Human Rights Groups claimed hundreds were tortured. State tv labelled them criminals. Eric after mass arrests of men, thousands of women took their place. Svetlana women understood that they have to stand in front of them and to defend them. They didnt want to lead this revolution. They just wanted to support their men. It just happened so naturally. [crowd chanting] eric none has taken greater risks or inspired more courage than retired geologist Nina Baginskaya, celebrated here in a popular heavy metal song about the protests. Crowd Nina Nina Nina nina eric her confrontations with police have become some of the most famous images of the revolution. Police arrest any media trying to film the marches, but protestors have been shooting on smartphones and uploading to independent websites. Eric she divides her time between her apartment in minsk, where she protests almost every day, and a small country cottage a short drive from the capital. Eric even here she raises peoples spirits when theyre losing hope. Eric Nina Baginskaya was an activist even before lukashenko came to power. In 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear plant in ukraine showered the countryside with deadly radiation. It inspired her to fight for belaruss independence from the soviet union. Eric belarus won its freedom from the soviet union in 1991, but when lukashenko came to power three years later, he snuffed out its new democracy and its symbols of independence. The former collective farm boss pushed for reunification with russia, hoping to one day rule both countries. He cracked down on the belarusian language and even banned the national redandwhite flag in favor of the redandgreen soviet banner. Eric decades on she continues to fight. In her apartment she sews the banned redandwhite flags she takes to each protest. Eric after months of being arrested on a regular basis, shes now become the only protester police dare not detain, lukashenko himself giving a mocking order to leave her be. Eric not so long ago, Maria Pugachjova never protested. Now its all she can think about, even when she goes to work or meets friends. Maria people just still live in this reality, and they have no chance not to talk about it because every day something happens. This is my life, then. Eric whenever she can she joins womens marches, lukashenko labeling them prostitutes and alcoholics. Maria its already week number 13, if im not mistaken, so its unbelievable how people are still believing that we will win soon, cause the protests never lasted that long in belarus. Eric but often its a battle just to get to a protest. [maria yelling in Foreign Language] eric police lock down entire neighborhoods to stop them marching. Maria as you can hear, everyone is screaming shame, shame, shame. [speaking Foreign Language] so, theyre not letting us join each other, but you can see that people are making noise. So, were everywhere. Everywhere. [horns honking] eric marias Group Retreats to a friends apartment to wait out the lockdown. Maria so, maybe we can see what is happening so we can join maybe somewhere, so i think well have a cup of tea or something. [all speaking Foreign Language] eric a locked apartment doesnt make them safe from arrest. Every Weekend Police have been raiding flats to find protesters, some of the violence recorded secretly and posted to independent news sites. For now, theyre safe, but from social media they see police have started grabbing people on the street they just left. Eric police arent the only danger at mass gatherings. Belarus is suffering a crippling covid pandemic, thanks largely to lukashenko downplaying it. He even suggested drinking vodka could prevent infection. Maria maybe the virus is not that painful as a young guy being killed by police, so covid is not that important for people now, and i understand them. When people ask me what did i do before the 9th of august, i dont remember my life before that. So, covid, yeah, okay, but we still have a person to fight out of this country. [all speaking Foreign Language] eric as they wait, they enjoy themselves as best they can. Eric for maria, joking around is one way of dealing with trauma. Maria remembering the first few days, i saw a lot of blood on the streets. I saw a lot of awful things that are still in front of my eyes and maybe thats one of the reasons, because im still protesting, like, every single moment i have. Maria i dont remember a day when i didnt saw a dream with police in that dream. So, im dreaming how they enter my apartment, how they detain me, so its some kind of Huge National trauma. So, all that is left for us is to fight a peaceful way that weve chosen. Eric finally, its too dark to join the protest. Therell be more marching tomorrow. [women speaking Foreign Language] eric while the women march on the streets, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya tries to build support internationally. Russia is still backing lukashenko, so shes focusing on the eu, meeting leaders like Frances Emmanuel macron and germanys angela merkel, and reaching out to joe biden. Svetlana the strategy is to start negotiations with our authorities. Not with lukashenko, but with the authorities who can take responsibility. My mission, just to organize new elections where im not going to participate. Eric you wouldnt participate . You dont want to be leader . Svetlana no, no, no, i dont want to be the president of belarus because, you know, we are really in deep economic hole, and i think that the ruler should be at least experienced person who knows how to rise up the economy of belarus. Eric for now, she continues to play the role of president in exile, even delivering a new years president ial greeting. Eric lukashenko, meanwhile, was filmed at a new years eve ball dancing with a miss belarus contestant. Having forced his opponent to flee, he now mocks her for trying to lead from abroad. Eric but the lack of Central Control has been one of the revolutions strengths. People have formed their own protest groups women, pensioners, neighborhoods. Its meant lukashenko cant stop the revolt by jailing the leaders, but after one particularly violent protest we find maria dejected. Riot Police Arrested her and took her to a station to be charged. Maria they saw me, and theyre just like, i think you have pretty much fun these days, lets go. Just like, what . Lets go, lets go, lets go. They were smiling and, you know, just like, were going for a ride now. Eric in two weeks shell go to court to face a possible jail term. Its small comfort that as a woman shell probably fare better than the men. Maria belarus is not really country full of feminists, so a lot of men think that were just, you know, just nice girls and thats it. They dont know how much activity and how much of ourselves we put into protests. They have no idea how many emotions, how many strength we are, how many everyday routine. They dont know, they think that its a game for us. Maybe thats why. On the other hand, i saw many, many beaten girls, many aggressively detained girls, so it depends. Eric a few days later she finds reason to regain her optimism. We organize for her to meet her heroine Nina Baginskaya. Eric nina normally shares her flat with one of her granddaughters, but, like many protesters, shes had to disappear. [maria speaking Foreign Language] eric maria starts pouring out her anguish. Eric some people in ninas generation still support lukashenko. Alya valuyevich, whos 80, lives in a hamlet 200 kilometers from minsk. After 26 years of lukashenkos rule, the house still has no heating or running water. She has to chop wood and fetch water from a well, but she feels blessed. When the wind doesnt blow the antenna down, she can watch state tv. Eric having lived most of her life in soviet times, she sees lukashenko as a guarantor of stability. Her monthly pension of 520 rubles, about 260 australian, covers her basic needs. [tv playing in Foreign Language] eric its an hour before dawn, and maria is getting ready for court, deciding what to pack and what to wear. Maria im packing my socks just in case they will decide to give me arrest instead of fine, so i think its better to be prepared than not to be. I didnt really want to read shakespeare in prison, but okay. I dont want to get sick, but eric her main worry is not jail itself but covid. Maria you never know. Plus, its prison. You cannot be safe enough. Eric today the random roulette of punishment spins in her favor, and shes released with a fine. She knows it may be worse next time, but she has no intention of stopping the fight. Maria yes, of course. Thats what all the people do after the arrest. They go and keep protesting. Eric and so, on a freezing weekday afternoon, she and her friends continue marching. The uprising that began in august has turned into a battle of wills. Marias generation knows it has no future if lukashenko stays in power. The coming months will see who prevails, one brutal man with an army of thugs or a peaceful revolution led by women. Maria maybe well change the history. I dont know. Nobody knows. Its scary to think about future, but its even more scary to think what will happen to us if we will stop. Cc by aberdeen captioning www. Aberdeen. Io 18006886621 [singing in cantonese] [singing in cantonese] bill birtles it was the prodemocracy movements anthem of hope. That somehow, the will of millions of hong kongers would prevail over the might of beijing. [singing in cantonese] [singing in cantonese]
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