Vitsebsk: another detention of candidate for deputy

In the night of 7-8 April, the road police detained the car with Volha Karach, deputy of the Vitsebsk city council of the 24th convocation, and her husband Aleh Barshcheuski, on suspicion of carjacking.

The peculiarity of the situation is that V.Karach, Chairperson of the Vitsebsk regional department of the United Civil Party, is running for the Vitsebsk city and the Vitsebsk regional Councils of Deputies of the 26th Convocation. She is also a coordinator of the social campaign Our House and a co-founder of the private newspaper Vitebskiy Kuryer that possesses an official registration in the Russian Federation.

The detainees were guarded to the Pershamaiski district police department of Vtisebsk and interrogated there for about three hours, till 3 a.m. As it was discovered as a result of the interrogation, the candidate had no relation to the carjacking.

Having examined the car, the police found about 30 copies of Vitebskiy Kuryer, some copies of the unregistered bulletin Nash Dom and other printed materials concerning the aforementioned campaign. An administrative report was drawn up on Aleh Barshcheuski, after which the detainees were let go. At the departure the police officers said that the case would be passed to court for a trial.

It is the not first case of interference of the police with activities of the opposition candidate Volha Karach. A similar incident took place in the city on 1 April 2010, when the police threatened her with administrative punishment for insubordination to the authorities and creation of obstacle during the detention of V.Ramniou, a founder of the Vitebskiy Kuryer newspaper.

Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections