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There is also this part: "The franchise was long known among activists in Belarus as an unsafe place."

I love the follow-up question to engage his audience: "Did you ever have a similar experience with McDonald's?"

If only I had a dollar for every time that has happened!

Big franchise brands spent millions of dollars trying to ensure consistency of experience across stores. Just imagining brand managers reading that line about similar experiences and thinking "I hope so!"

Sorry, but I missed the "obvious" part. He says that this incident made him "wary of the franchise", I think its pretty clear that he is not absolutely sure. Combined with the rumors, I do think he has a case.

Hi, this person is me.

I was likewise skeptical about the claim until it was my time to be detained (technically it wasn't an arrest). I think it is mentioned in the opening part.