20.04.2009 Police seize journalists’ equipment

On 17 April Kletsk town police detained journalist Siarhei Panamarou and his crew and confiscated their video camera. The police refused to state the reasons for the arrest. Neither did they familiarize the journalists with the arrest report. The journalists were arrested on their trip to the town of Kletsk as they were making a report on the destruction of historical and architectural monuments of the region. Siarhei Panamarou thinks the arrest may be tied to his civil activity in the For Freedom movement. According to the BAJ’s press service, Mr.Panamarou has lodged a complaint against the arrest with Kletsk district prosecutor’s office. He considers the incident ‘a classical robbery’ and requests that the prosecutor ‘prosecute the policemen under the Criminal Code.’

20.04.2009 Astravets local authorities oppose anti-nuclear plant campaign

Astravets local authorities have resolved to ban a meeting of a number of civil activists, who are engaged in a public campaign against the construction of a nuclear power plant in the neighbourhood of Astravets, Hrodna region. The objective of the meeting was considering the appropriateness of the project with the participation of Belarusian scientists and a number of experts from Russia and Lithuania, as well as journalists and representatives of local authorities. According to one of the campaign leaders Ivan Kruk, several activists were threatened by local town authorities.

20.04.2009 Regime puts participant of “Process of Fourteen” on list of wanted persons

The activist of the civil campaign “European Belarus” Tatsyana Tsishkevich faces custodial penalty.

The website jeans-by.com with the reference to the leader of the youth organisation of the United Civil Party “Young Democrats” Mikhail Pashkevich has informed that Tatsyana Tsishkevich, who studies in Poland, has been put on the list of wanted persons.

“I was told about that by my investigator Kisel, who is the investigator of the criminal and correctional inspectorate of Frunzenski district of Minsk. Both me and Tatsyana Tsishkevich are registered in that district,” Mikhail Pashkevich informed.