MINSK, 20 December (BelTA) – New details of the attack on the Belarusian embassy in the UK and the beating of the consul on 19 December have been revealed. At present the consul is in hospital. He has been diagnosed with a broken nose, brain concussion, and a knocked-out front tooth, BelTA learned from Counselor of the Embassy of Belarus in the UK Andrei Miskevich.
The official described the attack as an extraordinary event in a diplomat's life. “An employee of our embassy – a consul – was attacked right outside the building of the diplomatic mission yesterday,” he said.
The events unfolded in the following manner: a picket staged by a group of emigrants, which emerged in London after last year's events in Belarus, took place near the embassy from roughly 13:30 till 15:00. “The protest was peaceful and ended at about 15:00. Later on, at 18:45 we were informed that the Belarusian embassy had been pelted with eggs. It is an unpleasant situation that needs a response, including a response from local law enforcement bodies. This is why I and the consul went to the site of the incident in order to cooperate with law enforcement, possibly identify the culprits, and carry out other procedures in accordance with this situation,” Andrei Miskevich said.
He explained he had arrived at the diplomatic mission about 10 minutes before than the consul did. “While approaching the embassy he was attacked by a group consisting of four men and a woman as it was revealed later. They threw eggs at him and shouted aggressive intentions. It was obvious they were about to start violent actions,” Andrei Miskevich said. “Seeing how the events were unfolding, I and a driver ran out of the embassy in order to protect our staffer. It cooled down the attackers' ardor a bit. A fast-response police unit had been called as well.”
Andrei Miskevich explained they had a kind of a heated argument with the attackers. “Essentially there was no verbal altercation. We were subjected to slurs and invectives. The people were obviously intoxicated by alcohol. We were trying to calm them down as much as we could. Although the situation was definitely spiraling out of control. Later on after a police unit arrived one of the attackers punched the consul in the face. The situation is being evaluated now. The consul is in hospital. He has a broken nose and a brain concussion and a front tooth of his has been knocked out. The man faints, he is not feeling well,” the embassy counselor said.
In his words, as a result of yesterday's events police has apprehended one person and three people are classified as witnesses. The one who punched the consul in the face is in hiding. “We can say there was one punch. Although there were obviously more than one. He is in hiding. We expect local law enforcement to find him. Thankfully a video recording is available,” the diplomat said. “We identify this person as one of the most active participants of the migrant group, who like to claim their actions are strictly peaceful but this ‘peaceful' nature was very clearly demonstrated yesterday.”
Andrei Miskevich stressed that the available videos eloquently prove the absolutely extremist, brutal, and vandalistic nature of what happened as well as the true moral character of the attackers.
The embassy stressed it was not an action committed by drunk individuals, it was a deliberate political action. By shelling the embassy with eggs, the attackers wanted to lure the diplomats out in order to take violent actions against them, Andrei Miskevich concluded. “These actions were deliberately taken against Belarusian diplomats due to their profession,” he pointed out.
The Belarusian side will share video records of the incident with local law enforcement. The UK Foreign Office has also been notified about the incident. It was stressed that such actions against personnel of the Belarusian embassy and the building of the diplomatic mission are unacceptable.
