Youth activist Shyla goes on strike

Deputy head of the Young Front youth organization Ivan Shyla has reportedly declared a hunger-strike.

Shyla says he would stop the strike only after his conscription to the army was reviewed. He also demanded that harassment by the military officials and the Belarusian secret services be immediately stopped.

‘I am determined and self-confident. I have seen much, but these theatrics are something out of the world,’ says Shyla.

Ivan Shyla was detained during a search in his apartment on 28 January and subsequently taken to the local military registration and enlistment office where he was declared fit for military service by a medical commission. Now he is awaiting departure for a military unit in Minsk region.