Belarus Segodnya journalist suffered from Polish outrage

Anna Kasper, a correspondent of the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House in the Grodno Region, was overwhelmed with impressions yesterday. The lady was making reports on the events taking place in a spontaneous refugee camp near the Kuznitsa-Bruzgi international border checkpoint and witnessed the Polish security forces’ outrage with her own eyes. Moreover, being in the thick of events, the journalist – like miserable refugees – suffered from water cannons and tear-gas.

When asked of her mood, Anna – who, by the way, was awarded a Zolotaya Litera (Golden Letter) National Print Media Contest prize – smiles. “I’m in a combative mood,” she says. “My clothes are dry now and I will keep the event in memory for a lifetime. I’m writing a text for the newspaper at the moment. Honestly, I had so many impressions that it was a challenge to fall asleep. I’m not a novice in journalism. I have 15 years of experience but have never seen or experienced anything of the kind. I got under the jet of a Polish water cannon and tear-gas. It’s ok for me and my colleagues, but what is it like for pregnant women and children?! They were begging for mercy on the knees for hours. This is an unthinkable horror – to pour cold water on them at almost sub-zero temperatures. Put aside water. Some kind of smelly chemical liquid was used: the skin was burning and eyes were watering because of that solution... The Polish side did not have mercy upon journalists. Moreover, there was a strong impression that we were deliberately targeted, because we had special vests on with a large PRESS inscription. By the way, we stayed on our native Belarusian (!) territory. Everything is fine now, but I probably sneezed ten times more often [laughing] than usual. Seriously speaking, I still think of a poor Iraqi woman. She felt unwell and I was taking her by the arm to the ambulance. Five minutes later, she lost consciousness... Polish border guards almost killed her but Belarusian doctors promptly provided qualified assistance. Do you feel the difference? In general, I think our doctors are heroes. Meanwhile, I'm going to the border again now...”