Journalists Detained “To Avoid Mass Disorders”

The investigators questioned several police officers who performed the detention on October 19 at the railway station in Minsk. Some of them said that they “received an order from senior officers to detain suspicious persons when the opposition politician Pavel Seviarynets was arriving to Minsk”. According to officer Silvanovich, journalists were identified on the platform by their equipment. The journalists were detained so that “to prevent mass disorders”.

Having held the inquiry, the Investigative Committee concluded that the police actions contained no facts of interfering into journalistic professional activities.

This year there have been registered around 45 facts of detentaining journalists at work. Four incidents ended with administrative arrests. Others got away with up to three hours’ detention and inspection of personal documents.