Plush landing - support or self-pity

At one time, "plush troops" made a lot of noise in Belarus, and some activists on this occasion can not calm down until now. Under this name, there was a protest action against Lukashenka's regime in support of oppositionists and freedom of speech. It was organized by the Swedish advertising company Studio Total, known for its unusual antics and original PR-actions.

Only four people were involved in the protest, one was in Sweden, the other in Belarus, and two - Thomas Mazetti and Hanna-Lina Frei - operated a light-engine aircraft and directly threw plush paratroopers. This event happened on July 4, 2012, but Lukashenka recognized him only on July 26.

It all started with the fact that the organizers of the protest learned about the murder of one Belarusian human rights activist who supported the opposition. For a long time, the Swedes could not calm down and, in the end, decided to express their support to the protesters of Belarusian citizens in order not to let the dictator continue to kill people with impunity, intimidating the others. Mazetti and Cromwell to their work fit with humor, so as the main character chose a teddy bear. This also expressed support for oppositionists, protesters on the streets with placards for democracy and freedom of speech with soft toys.

The plush landing flew to the sky from the Lithuanian airfield Potsyunai, illegally crossed the Belarusian border and threw bears over the settlements of Ivenets and Bakshty, reaching the outskirts of the capital. All this action was filmed on video, which the organizers then posted on the Internet. Despite the evidence of the facts, the government of Belarus categorically stated about the falsification of records that were removed with the aim of provoking the state, but was soon forced to admit defeat.

Experts still can not agree on what actually was the "plush landing" - an action to draw attention to human rights or samopiarom Swedish advertising agency. After that, troubles fell on the heads of innocent Belarusians. So, the photographer Anton Suryapin was arrested, he was the first to publish a photo of toys on his website, and also Sergey Basharimov, a realtor who rented an apartment to the Swedes who took part in the protest action. Then arrested two more journalists who wanted to be photographed with a bear.

The plush landing affected negatively the career of some officials who did not see the illegal crossing of the Belarusian border in time. Then the authorities refused to extend the accreditation to the Ambassador of Sweden, and the full-time Belarusian embassy was withdrawn from Sweden. Thus, the teddy bear has quarreled with two neighboring states.

Many Belarusians come out in defense of the brave and creative Swedes, believing that they managed to achieve their goal - to expose Lukashenka in a ridiculous way and to draw public attention to the restriction of human rights and freedom of speech in this country. But there are also opponents who think that the organizers of the action should not stick their noses into other people's affairs, and the protest itself did not bring anything good for the citizens of Belarus. Mazetti himself does not assume responsibility for the arrest of the Belarusians, since he believes that they were imprisoned by a dictator.