“Young Front” states about new intimidation campaign
On 9 January members of the civil movement “Young
Front”, registered in Czech, held a press-conference to express their concern
with the new intimidation campaign, launched by KGB.
The “Young Front” members Ihar Kishko, Zmitser Kramianetski, Mikhail Muski,
Pavel Siarhei, Raman Vasiliieu and Uladzimir Yaromenak were detained on 19
December 2011, at an action dedicated to the anniversary of the violent
dispersal of peaceful post-election protests in Minsk.
All of them were sentenced to 10 days of arrest. During the arrest terms they
were summonsed to talks with KGB officers for 5-6 times. According to six of
the detainees, KGB officers tried to incline them to collaboration, threatening
with beating by riot police, troubles at the places of study and work and
direction to military service. Some people were really dismissed from work and
expelled from educational establishments.
KGB officers tried to receive information about activities of the youth
organization and its leaders – Mikola Dzemidzenka and Nasta Palazhanka.
One more “Young Front” activist, Raman Pratasevich, was taken away by the KGB
from his home on 30 December. They held a 90-minute “prophylactic talk” with
him, warning about the inadmissibility of radical actions.
Deputy head of the “Young Front”, Mikola Dzemidzenka, emphasized at the
press-conference that “Young Front” members decided to give publicity to these
facts in order to protect their members at least in some respect and prevent
the repletion of the interrogations.
“In general, we are quite surprised with such sudden interest of the KGB to our
activities. We are trying to find out the reasons. It can be connected to the
return of our persecution under Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code (“activitity
on behalf of unregistered organization”),” stated Dzemidzenka.
Bear in mind that on 30 December the website of the “Young Front”, mfront.net,
stopped its activity as a result of a powerful DDoS-attack and was restored
only in a week.
