What is the sound of a one-armed Belarusian clapping?
In recent weeks, Belarusian activists have adopted a strategy of meeting in Minsk’s October square to clap in wordless protest against Aleksandr Lukashenko’s government. Not surprisingly, authorities have clamped down on the practice, with occasionally surreal results: A court in Belarus fined a one-armed man for taking part in unsanctioned "clapping" protests in Minsk earlier ...
In recent weeks, Belarusian activists have adopted a strategy of meeting in Minsk's October square to clap in wordless protest against Aleksandr Lukashenko's government. Not surprisingly, authorities have clamped down on the practice, with occasionally surreal results:
In recent weeks, Belarusian activists have adopted a strategy of meeting in Minsk’s October square to clap in wordless protest against Aleksandr Lukashenko’s government. Not surprisingly, authorities have clamped down on the practice, with occasionally surreal results:
A court in Belarus fined a one-armed man for taking part in unsanctioned "clapping" protests in Minsk earlier in the week, Belarusian information website Khartiya-97 reported on Friday.
"The court ruled that the disabled man by the name of Konstantin will have to pay a fine of 1.05 million Belarusian rubles [some $200]," the website said.
The man was found guilty by the court of clapping in a public place. The fact that the man was clapping was proved by one of the witnesses during the trial.
No explanations were given on how the man was able to clap with only one hand.
Also worth noting is that the above blockquote comes from the state-owned Russian wire service RIA-Novosti, which has been getting awfully snarky lately in its coverage of erstwhile Russian ally Lukasehnko.
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
More from Foreign Policy

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America
The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense
If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War
Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests
And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.