Vitsebsk: Three Activists of Agitation Pickets Get Detained

According to RFE/RL

On 5 March near the Continent supermarket in Vitsebsk the police detained Veranika Chyzh and Liubou Kuzniatsova who were handing out agitation fly-sheets to passers-by. Near Smalenski market a police patrol of Vitsebsk Kastrychnitski Borough Board of Internal Affairs detained the agitator Siarhei Parsiukevich.

According to Khrystafor Zhaliapau, the girls were detained on the initiative of a man in plain clothes. He came up to them and said they had no right to agitate near the supermarket and then called the police. He didn’t introduce himself. Only at the police station Veranika Chyzh and Liubou Kuzniatsova found out it was lieutenant-colonel Mikhasiou, the chair of Vitsebsk Pershamaiski Borough Board of Internal Affairs.

The police stated they had many pretensions to the agitation materials and confiscated 980 booklets with the photo of A.Milinkevich on them. The police composed on the detainees reports for distribution of printed materials without data-line, ignoring the argument that the Central Election Commission had examples of all agitation products and didn’t have any pretensions to them.

The third detainee, Siarhei Parsiukevich, was detained for the second time - the first time he was detained in the same place on 23 February.

Khrystafor Zhaliapau warned the policemen they had no right to detain participants of the agitation campaign, the activity of which was to be regulated by the Central Election Commission. He also stated his intention to apply to procurators’ offices against the lawless detentions.