Minsk: Arrested Activists of Parnership Are Deprived of Meetings with Relatives

According to RFE/RL

The activists of the unregistered organization Partnership Mikola Astreika, Enira Branitskaia, Tsimafei Dranchuk and Aliaksandr Shalaika were detained on 21 February 2006 and taken to a KGB isolator. They are kept there separately. Their defense lawyers gave the written undertaking not to give publicity to the information of the investigation, that’s why the relatives have no information about the criminal case. They are indignant that the head of KGB Stsiapan Sukharenka and Aliaksandr Lukashenka characterized as dangerous criminals the members of the organization that deals only with election monitoring. The KGB investigators told the relatives they could wait for a meeting with the detainees for about a month. It is also prohibited to pass books and press. The only remaining way of communications is mail. Pregnant wives await Mikola Astreika and Tsimafei Dranchuk at home.

The relatives are sure that the fate of the detainees will depend on the political situation in the country after the presidential election.