Statement of secretariat of Union of Belarusian Writers concerning detention of Mikhail Bashura

More than a month ago, on 6 August 2010, the member of the Union of Belarusian Writers, poet and editor Mikhail Bashura was forcedly detained. The investigation charged him with an ‘economical crime’ – the forgery of financial documents so that his wife could receive a bank loan. Ignoring the presumption of innocence and the possibility of a mistake, they charge Mikhail Bashura with the forgery of the certificate from the place of his work.

Prior to his arrest, Mikhail Bashura took an active part in the civil campaign Speak Truth and was repeatedly detained for it. During the last detention and search the police confiscated from him thousands of signatures for naming a Minsk street in honor of the Belarusian writer Vasil Bykau.

The secretariat of the Union of Belarusian Writers states that the restraint chosen for Mikhail Bashura is extremely inadequate to the crime he is charged with. The secretariat demands an immediate release of Mikhail Bashura from custody as it is provided by the Belarusian legislation.

Minsk, 7 September 2010