Detentions in Brest

At 9.40 p.m. on 19 July, officers of the railway police detained Viktar Chaikouski, Deputy Chairperson of the republican NGO Perspective and Valiantsin Lazarenkau, Chairperson of the Brest organization of the Free Trade Union of Belarus who were returning from a conference dedicated to discussion of the law on small and middle-scale business adopted by the Chamber of Representatives.

The reason for the detention was the suspicion that they were trafficking ‘anti-state literary editions’.

According to Mr. Chaikouski, the detention was conducted as in a detective story: ‘The train was ringed from the both sides. The police were waiting for us – we think they had an order from KGB. We were detained personally by captain Ihar Tarasiuk. At the end of the detention, the chairperson of the railway police department told someone on the phone: ‘Blunder’.’

Belarusian liberalization is a total control over the society. That’s what a great share of our taxes is spent on. Valiantsin Lazarenkau believes that membership in the opposition cannot be a reason for a regular pressurization from the side of the secret services, who shift the dirty work onto the police.

’We are oppositional today, as we don’t share the official views on the development of the economical, social and political issues in Belarus. However, it doesn’t give a reason to pull us to the police stations and search us day and night as they do it: whether on departure or on arrival, as they do it for a wide array of reasons. However, if we are under suspicion, let the secret services deal with us directly, so that we could see who is who. However, they are always crossing up the police instead,’ commented Mr. Lazarenkau.

A report was drawn up on the fact of the detention. Haven’t found anything illegal in the belongings of the civil activists, the policemen offered their apologies. The detention lasted for about an hour. Viktar Chaikouski and Valiantsin Lazarenkau intend to appeal the actions of the police at state agencies.