The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

Members of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union from the “Naftan” plant have received a fourth ban on holding a picket aimed at informing Navapolatsk citizens about the refusal of the plant administration to conclude a collective agreement with the independent trade union.

Civil activist Viktar Kalesnik is summonsed to the police on 7 October. He is sure that the real reason is his participation in the People's Assembly, which will take place on 8 October, not the dactilography. He has been detained many times already. His fingerprints were taken for the first time four years ago. The police also have his photo and video shots.

On 18 July democratic activists, including members of the Belarusian Popular Front Party, the For Freedom movement and the Human Rights Center Viasna applied to the Navapolatsk Town Executive Committee with the request to authorize a picket in support of political prisoner Mikita Likhavid who is subject to constant pressurization in jail.

On 22 July, Navapolatsk town court heard the administrative cases of several persons detained during a protest on 20 July.

Aleh Kraiko, employee of Navapolatsk-based Palimir state-owned enterprise, is facing dismissal after he was forced to sign a written undertaking not to participate in anti-government protests.

The Navapolatsk Town Court considered the administrative cases of the civil activists detained during the silent protest action on 13 July.

On 13 July in the evening Aliaksandr Hrudnitski walked with his six-year-old son Yauhen in the park near the square where participants of the silent protest action gathered. After the end of the action, when the people started going away, the police started seizing some of them. Aliaksandr noticed it and wanted to come to their defense. As a result, he was pushed into a paddy wagon and taken to the Polatsk District Police Department together with his son.

On 15 July a search was conducted at the apartment of Yauhen Kanstantsinau. The official reason was that the police had been allegedly informed that he was selling moonshine. They confiscated some leaflets from him. On 18 July two provocateurs (Makaranka and Silitski) attacked the activist, after which he was detained by the police. He was charged under Article 17.1, “disorderly conduct”.

The administrative trial of Navapolatsk activist Yauhen Kanstantsinau facing charges for alleged disorderly conduct has been postponed after a witness for the prosecution, who had been allegedly insulted by the activist, appeared in the courtroom in state of intoxication.

At 7 p.m. on 11 May the police detained three Navapolatsk activists, Illia Bahdanau, Viktar Kalesnik and Yauhen Parchynski, and guarded them to the Navapolatsk Town Police Department.