Police seize journalists’ equipment

On 17 April Kletsk town police detained journalist Siarhei Panamarou and his crew and confiscated their video camera. The police refused to state the reasons for the arrest. Neither did they familiarize the journalists with the arrest report. The journalists were arrested on their trip to the town of Kletsk as they were making a report on the destruction of historical and architectural monuments of the region. Siarhei Panamarou thinks the arrest may be tied to his civil activity in the For Freedom movement. According to the BAJ’s press service, Mr.Panamarou has lodged a complaint against the arrest with Kletsk district prosecutor’s office. He considers the incident ‘a classical robbery’ and requests that the prosecutor ‘prosecute the policemen under the Criminal Code.’