Igor Bantser

Born in Minsk, then largest city in the Byelorussian SSR and now the capital of the Republic of Belarus, Igor moved with his family to Grodno in 1986. There he attended school number 25 (it is customary in Eastern Europe to name primary schools with numbers). In 1997 he became a member of the Малады Фронт organisation; in the same year he began working as a journalist for the "Пагоня" newspaper. From 1992 until 2002, Bantser lived in Warszawa – capital of Poland – where he studied international relations at the local university. During his stay in Poland he actively took part in efforts to promote the democratisation of Belarus, cooperating with Belarusian political migrants and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. After returning to Belarus he worked as a journalist for several Russian language opposition magazines. Igor was also editor in chief of the Polish-language monthly publication Magazyn Polski in 2007.[2]

Mister X performing live in Minsk, in March of 2020.

Ever since 2003, when with Boris from Oi! Bombers he founded the Mister X streetpunk band, he has been the group's primary vocalist.[4] The whole band, including Igor, identify as SHARP[5] and form part of the anti-racist skinhead and Oi! scene in West Belarus.[6][7] Partially thanks to Bantser's fluency in Polish, Mister X have become well-known on the underground punk scene in Poland, where they are often referred to as "the most well-known Belarusian punk rock band" and "the flagship of Belarusian street punk".[8][9] Since their formation, the band have toured with Igor in many European countries outside of their usual venues of Belarus, Poland, Russia, Latvia, and Lithuania[10] – including Germany and other Western European countries.[11] Depending on the song, Igor writes his lyrics and records his vocals in Russian, Polish, English, or Belarusian.[12]

Although Igor and his band's self-proclaimed apolitical stance initially led to them being somewhat ostracised on the then highly politicised Belarusian punk scene, it has not gotten in the way of garnering an international following of fans in the years following the band's creation,[13] despite difficulties with the country's regime and travelling.[14] The band and their fans have also experienced police brutality and repressions at the hands of the local authorities during one of their gigs in Ryazan, Russia.[15][16][17]

Due to his critical stance of opposition towards the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko, which involves political and social activism on his part, Bantser has been imprisoned and punished by the Belarusian law enforcement numerous times. In March 2007 he was arrested and convicted for "swearing in the presence of militiamen", which resulted in his imprisonment for a period of 10 days[18] and he was yet again stopped in October of the same year. Andżelika Borys stood in his defence, which resulted in her conviction and being charged with a fine.[2] In the following years of 2008, 2009, and 2010, Igor was stopped several times by the militia of Belarus – often arrested and sometimes charged with criminal offences, mostly for his reluctance to accept state authority and insistence on protest; at one point in 2010 he went on a hunger strike.[19][20]

On the morning of 14 June, 2011, Bantser was stopped by the militia in front of his home in Grodno. In this way he was prevented from making his way to the local courtroom to attend the process of Andrzej Poczobut. For the remainder of the day he was held in solitary confinement. The following day he was convicted to 5 days of arrest and charged for "uncensurable vocabulary". His case was considered in the militia building instead of the courts. Under arrest, as a sign of protest, he refused all food and liquids, which resulted in rapid weight loss of 8 kilograms; he was also for a period of time held in an overcrowded cell.[21]

Yet again on 24 June, 2011, Igor was brutally stopped by the local authorities, as the militiamen dragged him across the street, for "being in a forbidden place". His process was once again considered in a militia building rather than a proper courtroom. He was accused of "loud swearing in public" and "refusing to submit himself to the militia". The case against him was shown by Bantser as being inconsistent, since according to the militia he was in 2 places at the same time – his innocence was confirmed by numerous witnesses. Regardless and contrary to the facts, the judge charged him a fine of 2,100,000 Belarusian rubles (then equal to more than 1000 Polish złoty). According to Grażyna Szałkiewicz, who gave testimony of Igor's innocence, the judge raised her voice and behaved aggressively towards her and the defence.[22]

In early July of 2011, Bantser was arrested and charged the following day for "taking part in an illegal gathering on the 28th of June"; this resulted in a conviction and 10 days of arrest. He once again decided to go on a hunger strike in response to his unfair treatment.[23] On 1 June, in 2012, Igor was stopped and arrested for 13 days after picketing in defence of the Polish School in Grodno.[24] Since 2015, after receiving intimidating phone-calls from the militia with threats of forced expulsion from the country, Bantser has been focusing more on pursuing his musical calling while making ends meet.[25]

Igor is a committed anti-fascist[3] with a zero tolerance attitude towards racism in the skinhead scene, recognising the multi-cultural and ethnically diverse roots of his musical genre; likewise, he is an outspoken opponent of homophobia and sexism in punk rock and wider society.[26] He does not eat meat and does not drink alcohol, his personal interests besides punk and rock music include: MMA, Muay Thai, and Rugby.[3] Bantser has been married twice and has three children – one from the first marriage and two from the second.[3] While his lifestyle in many ways could be seen as straight edge, Igor does not seem to openly identify as such. He is an agnostic.[27]