Brest: first detentions for People's Assembly

Liavontsi Chypurnykh, the deputy chair of the Brest city department of the Belarusian Leftist Party  “Fair World”, was detained in the evening of 3 October.

Radio Svaboda learnt this from the chair of the party’s city department Liudmila Dzianisenka, who said that the activist had been detained when he was gathering signatures to hold the People’s Assembly:

“Policemen said Chypurynykh had been handing out leaflets calling to an unauthorized event. Liavontsi was gathering signatures in his house and handing out invitations. Someone called police and he was detained. Liavontsi spent the night in a police station. He will be tried today. We are figuring out when the trial begins. We’re going to come and support him,” Liudmila Dzianisenka said.

“It’s the first time when a representative of a left party has been detained in Brest. They have not bothered us before, but now, ahead of the People’s Assembly, they became more active,” she added.

This is the first detention for the People’s Assembly in Brest. Before, only people in Baranavichy were detained in the Brest region. On 22 September, activist Siarhei Auchynnikau was fined 525,000 rubles for handing out leaflets. On 29 September, Viktar Tsiapin was detained for leaflets with information about the People’s Assembly. He will stand trial on 6 October. On 30 September, the local coordinator of People’s Assembly, Viktar Meaziak, was detained in Baranavichy.