Prominent political analyst has bank cards, laptop seized by Belarusian customs officers

Alyaksey Pikulik, the academic director of the Vilnius-based Belarusian Institute of Strategic Studies (BISS), had his bank cards and laptop computer seized by Belarusian customs officers at the Lithuanian border last week.

Mr. Pikulik spent six hours at the Kamenny Loh checkpoint on his way from Lithuania to Belarus as customs officers searched him and examined his car.

"I had the impression that they had a task of finding something illegal but had no idea of what they should look for," the political analyst told BelaPAN.

He said that the customs officers had been constantly consulting unknown officials by phone.

Mr. Pikulik said that he would not "make any public statements on the possible subtext of the incident before the true reasons come to light."

He described the BISS as a think tank that is ready to share its research findings with Belarus' authorities, including law enforcement and security agencies.

Mr. Pikulik said that he would request the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Customs Committee to provide explanations over the incident.