KLETSK OPPOSITION MEMBER DETAINED AND KEPT IN JAIL FOR 7 HOURS

On 4 September Kletsk district court considered criminal case of murder. The trial was open for public. Aleh Nikulin came to the hearing as a journalist, in order to prepare an article for a local newspaper. Nikulin is a member of Belarusian Popular Front and is famous in Kletsk as a member of opposition. This was the reason why policemen, guarding the court building, did not let the journalist into the courtroom. Instead, they detained him and took him to a local police station. There they tried to accuse Nikulin of being drunk in a public place. The detained demanded that he should be able to take an alcohol test. A local clinic conducted an examination and proved Nikulin was completely sober. There were no other chargers the police could think of. However, they kept Nikulin for 7 hours and then released him, making no report.

Aleh Nikulin considers the actions of the policemen illegal and plans to complain against them to the district prosecutor’s office.