Homel: KGB Searches Journalist Padsasonny’s Apartment

Officers of the local KGB department searched an apartment of member of the Belarusian Association of Belarus Siarhei Padsasonny in Homel on 12 January.

Prakapenka, district police officer, knocked at the door of the apartment on Valatauskaya Street, 2, rented by the journalist. He demanded to open the door: allegedly, noise in the apartment was disturbing the downstairs neighbors.

The journalist said he was alone in the apartment, no one made noise there, and he had no downstairs neighbors – there’s a grocery downstairs.

‘Then the KGB agents appeared. They said they had a search warrant, and demanded to open the door. I refused, but they warned they would break the door. The warrant said Siarhei Padsasonny was suspected of organizing the Young Front and involvement of pupils and students in the organization with the purpose to discriminate the country,’ the journalist said to RFE/RL.

Siarhei’s friends came to support him. They offered their candidatures for witnesses of search, but police and KGB agents forced them out.

A hard disk, a video-camera and a flash memory stick were confiscated from the journalist. KGB detective officer, senior lieutenant Melnikau signed the report of search.

Last November the KGB agents forcedly took Siarhei Padsasonny to the KGB office for a so called talk – they were interested if he concerned with the satellite TV channel Belsat.