From a recent report from Radio Free Europe...
Police in Minsk, the capital city of Belarus, will soon launch a holiday season campaign to improve their tough image by making random early evening visits to homes dressed in unexpected costumes; namely those depicting Father Christmas and a female assistant!
The program is called "Who's There? It's the Policeman Santa Claus!" and will run from 19-23 December. The callers will ask "security related" questions and award gifts for correct answers. One goal of the project is to "raise the level of security-consciousness among Minsk citizens," and home owners "will have the opportunity to place their residences in police registers from the comfort of their own sofas." The police announcement concluded that "a visit from 'Santa in a police uniform' will be a special holiday for any little Minsk residents in the house."
Uh, right.
Belarus, as readers of this blog know, is a die-hard Communist nation with a corrupt and decadent dictator at its helm. And the Belarussian police forces (also corrupt, decadent and frequently the agents of repression and violence against the innocent) are therefore not known as, well, the Father Christmas type. But such is the wickedness of Alexander Lukashenka -- no scheme for propaganda and control, no matter how insidious or profane, is beneath him.
