Trade union leaders face tax evasion charges Updated
The Minsk and Salihorsk offices of two key opposition trade unions have been raided today by the Department for Financial Investigations, nn.by said. Office equipment and financial documents have been seized.
The law enforcement arrested Henadz Fiadynich, leader of the REP trade union, as well as the group’s accountant Ihar Komlik, and Natallia Pichuzhkina, editor of the praca-by.info website. All of them face criminal charges of tax evasion.
Aliaksandr Yarashuk, chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Independent Trade Unions, has been detained and questioned, following a search at the organization’s office in Salihorsk. ITU’s chairman Mikalai Zimin has also been interrogated.
UPD. According to recent reports, Henadz Fiadynich and Natallia Pichuzhkina have been released on recognizance after an interrogation by the financial police. Both have been declared suspects in the case. Ihar Komlik is still being held in a detention center in Minsk.
