Data from Phones: The Gang of Baskau, Eismant, And Shakuta Was Seen at Another Protest Yard

A casual operator, approaching a group of uninvited guests, could not contain his surprise.

Where was the head of the FHB Dzmitry Baskau on the evening of November 11, 2020? There is no official answer to this question. At the same time, a person very similar to a functionary was seen at the time mentioned on the Square of changes in Minsk - this person, as part of a group of people, cut off the white and red ribbons hung by local residents, which this group did not like very much. Raman Bandarenka, who lived in a nearby house, noticed the situation and approached to find out what was happening - as a result, he was thrown to the ground by someone who strongly resembled a fighter, coach of security forces, and Baskau's friend Dzmitry Shakuta, and was later taken to the bus, Tribuna writes.

The next day after that, Bandarenka died. At the hospital, he underwent tests that showed Raman's sobriety - doctor Artsiom Sarokin and journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich were sentenced to terms for publishing their results. But there is still no trial directly on the death of Bandarenka. In the end, even the IIHF became interested in the question of whether Baskau could somehow be involved in it - but nothing has been heard from the international federation about the progress of the disciplinary case (it looks like they are seriously waiting for help from the regime there).

Baskau himself then claimed that he had nothing to do with the tragedy. However, a few days later, a recording of the conversations of two men with very familiar voices appeared in the public field, in which the discussion of the events on the Square of Changes on November 11 was guessed from the details. Soon, the tut.by portal ordered a specialized study from an independent Russian expert - after analysis, he concluded that the audio contains the voices of Baskau and Shakuta.

Later, an investigation was carried out by the BYPOL initiative, which unites security officials who did not want to work for Lukashenka's system. The regime does not like their activities, and the project is threatened to be declared extremist, but, even under criminal cases, the initiative continues to publish topical and resonant information. As for the events on the Square of Changes, BYPOL said that they got the billing of mobile phones of some people (Shakuta, for example) - and the numbers on the evening of November 11 surprisingly converged in the area of the Square of Changes. The phones of Natallia and Hanna Eismant were also on the list - the former works as Lukashenka's press secretary, and the latter conducts sports news and projects on state TV.

Hanna Eismant, ex-hockey player of "Yunost" with his wife, SOBR fighters who entered the ring. Whose phones were at the Square of Changes in the evening when Bandarenka was tied.

Dzmitry Shakuta (first from left), Natallia Eismant (third from left), Hanna Eismant (fourth from left), Dzmitry Baskau (sixth from left)

The TV presenter quickly disowned the events, referring to the live broadcast (although in theory, it did not prevent her from getting to the square in any way). But more attention was drawn to the phone of her brother's wife. After all, soon after the "leak" of the conversation of the voices, which the examination identified as the voices of Baskau and Shakuta, another record was published - this time the interlocutors sounded very similar to Baskau and just Natallia Eismant. The content of the conversation was frightening - the interlocutors agreed to go on a "ribbon tape hunt" on October 18 in different parts of Minsk, but at the same time, they allowed the use of weapons if suddenly someone tried to interfere with them, while the female voice hinted at a very influential "roof." Another examination ordered was by tut.by - and again, the statement: the conversation between Baskau and Eismant was recorded.

Literally the next day after this "leak," Lukashenka spoke out - he called the record "fake" and said: "Stop until next week. Everything will be reported in the best possible way. It will be interesting." However, neither the next week nor any other weeks any information from the regime about the situation did not appear. This continued until the very end of March when a film was released on state TV about how the KGB was identifying an alleged traitor who allegedly transmitted internal information to external sources. In this picture, a few minutes were devoted to the dialogue between the voices of Baskau and Eismant. Surprisingly, they did not refute the identity of the votes - they went the other way, saying that the conversation was staged. Next, Eismant appeared on the screen, who, judging by the articulation, spoke into the phone the same words as in the published recording, while in a room similar to the KGB office. However, no evidence was provided that the footage shown had not been filmed after the "leak" was provided - only the words of an anonymous employee with a changed voice and a statement that after the conversation there were no activities on the part of the interlocutors.

Tut.by, the expert, commissioned by which it was argued that the dialogue between Baskau and Eismant has signs of spontaneity and not staging, found many questions about the film that have no answer. Perhaps the main one is the question of the fact that, on October 18 in the Minsk residential complex Megapolis, there really was a conflict over white and red ribbons. A group came to cut them off in which there were men, well, very similar to Baskau and Shakuta, as well as a woman who resembled Eismant. There was also a video of the episode - in it, a random operator, approaching a group of uninvited guests, cannot contain surprise at the sight of one of the faces and gives out: "Comrade Baskau?" This surprised other Belarusians as well - it was not known before that a person similar to Baskau was driving around the protest courtyards. And the situation ended in a scuffle, in which, fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.

After watching an attempt to whitewash Baskau and Eismant performed by state TV, BYPOL also recalled the events of October 18. Former security officials recalled that there was extraneous noise in the leaked recording, which had nowhere to come from in the KGB office, but not only that. The initiative again from somewhere got the geolocation of certain phones for the required date - and stated that the phones of Baskau, Shakuta, and Eismant in the interval from 23:00 on October 18 to 01:00 on October 19 were just at the Megapolis residential complex. It was at this time that the conflict unfolded between a group of unknown persons who arrived at the complex with sharp objects and local residents dissatisfied with their appearance. Until that time, judging by the billing, there were repeated calls between the numbers of Eismant and Baskau - as well as according to the version of the leaked audio recording. The initiative attached such an image.

May 12 will mark six months since the death of Bandarenka. Perhaps, at least for such a period, the authorities will advance in their investigation and still name those who inflicted damage on Raman incompatible with life.