Youth Movement Zubr Ceases to Exist under Its Brand

On 5 May the youth movement Zubr issued a public statement where it was stated that it stopped acting under its brand. The activists of the movement explained this step with the new political situation that was a result of the presidential election’2006. They think that the events that took place ‘manifested the wish of Belarusians to see their country free and democratic to the whole world’ and simultaneously proved that ‘final victory can be reached only by uniting all the democratic forces’. That’s why, as the movement’s activists stated, it was decided to stop the activity on behalf of Zubr and join the solid democratic movement.

The activist Aliaksei Shydlouski said that the movement decided to pass the rights to the brand to Anton Tsialezhnikau, who has lived in Warsaw since 2002. ‘Only he can resume Zubr now’, said Shydlouski.

According to Iryna Toustsik, one of the reasons for cessation of the activity on behalf of Zubr was the oppression of democratic activists by the Belarusian authorities.

We should remind that Zubr was established in 2001 and consisted of adherents of eloquent and active non-violent forms of protest. The organization’s debut was the action Final Diagnosis in Horki Park in Minsk, during which youngsters acted Lukashenka. During the latest electoral campaign Zubr activists hanged out posters and banners against A. Lukashenka’s rule.