Belarus

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NickFaulks
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Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:28 pm

Belarus

Post by NickFaulks » Wed Aug 19, 2020 4:45 pm

There is an article about events in Belarus in which Anastasia Sorokina gets a mention as a person of national importance.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/0 ... eu-reject/

For those who cannot get into the DT, this is the second half.


"Meanwhile in one of the highest-profile defections so far, the head of the Belarusian Chess Federation told The Telegraph that she can no longer support the government.

“I can’t keep pretending that nothing is happening,” Anastasia Sorokina, who also holds the title of a vice-president of the international chess federation FIDE.

“I supported the government for a long time because I saw that a lot of things were done to advance sports, and things were calm and quiet. The fact that people’s choice was not recognised was a point of no return for me.”

Chess is one of the country’s flagship sports and even though the Belarusian Chess Federation is not part of the government, it relies on the state for providing financial guarantees for sports events as well as donations from Belarusian state companies.

Ms Sorokina, a former chess player who has led the Belarusian Chess Federation since 2017, in an exclusive interview with the Telegraph spoke of being stonewalled for months by the country’s sports minister who is a former bodyguard of President Lukashenko.

“We’ve been living under the control of security services for 26 years - I think it’s too much.”

Like countless Minsk residents, Ms Sorokina and her family witnessed horrific scenes of violence on the streets last week.

She recalls walking down the street with her daughter recently who said she was scared at the very sight of patrol police.

“My child’s fear of the police that is supposed to protect us was just another jolt to do something.”

The head of the chess federation, who reports to former Kremlin official Arkady Dvorkovich as a FIDE vice-president, told the Telegraph she does not fear repercussions from Belarusian officials, although she recalled an instance when the sports minister threatened to sack her despite the fact that her position is an elected one, but she is afraid for her physical safety:

“If the regime stays, I don’t know anymore how to live in this country.”

Ms Sorokina called on government officials to “speak out and side with the people, otherwise people are not going to forgive this.”"
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