Belarusian activist Piotr Markielau, who protested at the Prague branch of IKEA
on Friday, November 18, gave an interview to the Anarchist Federation. ---- Whydid you decide to protest at IKEA in Prague? ---- I was very angered by the newsthat IKEA has been cooperating with Belarusian companies for ten years and usingthe forced unpaid labor of prisoners in Belarusian penal colonies, including thelabor of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. The fact that prisonersmake furniture for export was already known . However, it was not known who theend customer is in the production chain. It turns out that it is, among others,the international company IKEA, which is not guilty of using slave labor in theproduction of its products for the first time .First I looked into the legislation and found that there is no law in any EUcountry or EU level, which would establish liability for human rights violationsin the supply chain. It would therefore be extremely difficult to establish legalliability against IKEA. So I decided to use direct action to show thatBelarusians will not tolerate international companies supporting an authoritarianregime responsible for the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Belarusians in2020-2022, torture in prisons and political assassinations. Companies thatcooperate with the Belarusian regime must realize that even if they are notprosecuted, they will suffer a loss of reputation. IKEA must pay. I wrote to thecompany's management and listed the human rights organizations that need itssupport today. It's okay to make mistakes as long as you correct them afterwards.We will see if IKEA wants to correct its mistake, or if its brand will forever bestained with the blood of innocent Belarusians.How did the police treat you? Why did they issue such a confused statementimmediately after the event, as if you wanted to draw attention to yourself, whenit was IKEA's cooperation with the Belarusian regime?The police (special units, similar to the Belarusian OMON) in the Czech Republicare not very different from the Belarusian riot police. After the event, Iimmediately let the IKEA security guard know that my event was over and I wasn'tgoing to put up any resistance, I wasn't aggressive. I raised my hands above myhead and the guard sprayed pepper spray in my eyes. Apparently he's been waitinghis entire career for this. When the police arrived, they were unreasonablyviolent with me. I have repeated many times that I do not defend myself and Iwill not defend myself. When they were taking me away, I kept repeating inEnglish "I will not resist", and they said in Czech "if you resist, we will usephysical force" - and they used it. They handcuffed me so tightly that I stillcan't use my fingers properly. They probably damaged my nerves so my hands arenot very sensitive. They were very rude to me in the car, they put a covid maskon me because as they said: "I smelled like a pig". At the police station theydidn't give me water for a long time, they made me sit and look at the ground,they threatened me with deportation to Belarus and called me a KGB agent. When Iasked for an interpreter into Belarusian, they started discussing it withsurprise. I don't speak Czech, but I heard the word "dialect" in their conversation.Back at IKEA, I explained to them the purpose of my event several times. Therewere leaflets with a clear description of the recently published finding and a QRcode that could be clicked and read. However, the Czech police decided to postthe nonsense they wrote on Twitter.Are you satisfied with the coverage of the event in the Czech media, which firstwrote that you were "in charge" there? And in other media, including independentBelarusian ones?The event was prepared very quickly and I did not have time to prepare and sendthe text to the Czech media. That was my omission. I cordoned off the space withmasking tape to show that it was a performance, that I wasn't a maniac. Themoment when I was throwing out the flyers was also not caught on video. Manymedia outlets corrected or supplemented their reports when they receivedadditional information. The Belarusian media reported the event sufficientlybecause they know me and my activism.You held an event in front of the Belarusian embassy in Ukraine in connectionwith the tragic death of political prisoner Vitold Ashurak. To whom are youractions primarily addressed and do they fulfill their intended purpose? Will youcontinue them?Each event has its own recipient and its own message. In general, the goal of allactions is to draw attention to a certain problem. In addition, they are alsosupposed to show that Belarusians are a nation that will fight for their rightsand freedom until the end. And they don't just show it to other nations.Centuries of oppression have marked the Belarusian mentality. People are afraidto stand up for themselves, they are afraid to talk about oppression, they preferto bury their heads in the sand or leave the country and forget their roots, theytry to assimilate. The most popular event of the Belarusian diaspora around theworld is to stand with candles in front of the embassy. That is a weak position.I want to have my own home, where I will have my rights, where I will be able torealize myself, in my community. I will continue to fight for freedom. Belaruswill be free.You are a member of the Legalize Belarus initiative. Has your organization beensubject to repression after 2020? Are your friends in prison?In 2017, I founded the organization Legalize Belarus with a few friends. This ispartly why I was so upset by the news of IKEA's cooperation with Belarusianprisons. Because I know that about a third of all prisoners in Belarus (about10,000 people) were convicted under Section 328, i.e. possession of illegalsubstances. A few years ago, the typical sentence was eight years for 1 gram ofcannabis. I know many of these people. We have been dealing with this topic formore than five years and I know very well what I am talking about. Young peoplein their twenties are locked up in penal colonies for many years, it destroystheir psyche, it destroys their youth, it destroys their lives. And IKEA ismaking money from it. Because slave labor is cheap.What can we do here in the Czech Republic to help Belarus? Besides boycottingIKEA, what would you recommend?I don't think a campaign to boycott IKEA would work. After all, their goods areof high quality and cheap. Such campaigns almost never work. It will be muchbetter to try to appeal to their reputation, to try to make the public aware thatthis brand is stained with blood. No one would want to wake up in a bed and knowthat this bed was made by political prisoners under slave conditions. My messageto the IKEA management could not be clearer: donate some amount to Belarusianhuman rights organizations. I am referring to the International Committee toInvestigate Torture in Belarus, the Viasna Rights Protection Center (whosefounder Ales Bialiacki won the Nobel Peace Prize this year) and otherorganizations that help Belarusian prisoners. If IKEA does not listen to my call,I will do everything to damage the image of this company as much as possible. Wesue her even if we don't have a great chance of winning, we will pay foradvertising on social networks, we will reach out to competing companies. And inthe long run, IKEA will have to pay anyway. But I'm betting on their openness.Now the war should be fought elsewhere. It will be best if they admit theirmistake, remit the money to Belarusian human rights organizations and continue todo their business, respecting human rights not only in the countries where theysell their products, but also where they are made.https://www.afed.cz/text/7794/ikea-vyuziva-otrockou-praci-veznu_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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