Police raid apartment of blogger who filmed house of head of Svetlahorsk district government

Police raided the apartment of blogger and civil society activist Henadz Zhuleha in Svetlahorsk, Homyel region, on August 17, days after he filmed the luxurious house of the head of the Svetlahorsk District Executive Committee and posted the clip on the Internet.

The officers seized the man’s computer, explaining that the official’s wife had complained about the clip and asked the police to charge him with libeling the family. “I believe that the clip contains no libel, that is knowingly false information,” Mr. Zhuleha told BelaPAN.

The police told the activist that they would examine the files on his computer before deciding whether to institute criminal proceedings.

Mr. Zhuleha filmed the house on August 6. “The authorities say that there’s no money to fix the city’s problems. My clip shows that there’s money, but it is spent on the construction of houses for top officials,” he said.

He made video clips highlighting Svetlahorsk’s social problems and poor infrastructure in the past.