Police search apartment of former political prisoner Aliaksandr Malchanau after return from Ukraine

Former political prisoner Aliaksandr Malchanau, who returned from Ukraine two weeks ago, wrote today on his Facebook account: “They came to seek drugs, all approved by the prosecutor. They did not find anything. They took a hard disk (now I’m without an Internet connection) and two Ukrainian SIM cards. In general, a trifle, but unpleasant, now I am without money, the Internet, and waiting for the return of the HDD, which has been confiscated dozens of times.”

Aliaksandr Malchanau also said that when returning to Belarus all his things were carefully searched by border officials, and then some other people did it again. Only after that he was able to take his passport.

The former political prisoner says the harassment by law enforcement agencies is linked to his visit to Ukraine, as earlier some of his friends were questioned by KGB officers about his possible involvement in combat operations on the territory of Ukraine.

Aliaksandr Malchanau was detained after the 19 December 2010 post-election protest and taken into custody in the KGB jail. On 2 March 2011, he was sentenced by the Frunzienski District Court of Minsk to three years of imprisonment in a medium security penal colony. He served his sentence in Mahilioŭ, and was eventually released on 14 September 2011 after being pardoned by President Lukashenka.