Hrodna: human rights defenders detained at customs office

The equipment of the border guards reacted to the passports of the human rights defenders Uladzimir Khilmanovich and Viktar Sazonau during the passport control at the customs office of the Hrodna railway station.

After this the border guards took away their passports, lead them aside and consulted somebody over the phone for a long time. Then they called the customs officers who demanded that the activists should fill in customs declarations. After the documents were filled, the customs officers thoroughly checked the trustworthiness of the information that was put down in these documents.

Uladzimir Khilmanovich and Viktar Sazonau think that such attention of the border guards is connected to their public activism during the electoral period. They say that they are put on the lists of the persons who are checked on the border during each election, and this election is not an exception despite the wish of the authorities to make it look more liberal.

If the authorities still use the methods of control they used during the previous elections, the results will be the same and will be achieved in the same way. Most probably, officers of the border service and the customs just implemented an order of some higher officials and demonstrated a polite attitude to the human rights defenders.

Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections