Navapolatsk: trade union activist dismissed from Naftan plant
On 15 July a search was conducted at the
apartment of Yauhen Kanstantsinau. The official reason was that the police had
been allegedly informed that he was selling moonshine. They confiscated some
leaflets from him. On 18 July two provocateurs (Makaranka and Silitski)
attacked the activist, after which he was detained by the police. He was
charged under Article 17.1, “disorderly conduct”.
The trial was appointed to 20 July, but was postponed to 22 July as one of the
provocateurs (who were witnesses at the trial) was drunk. Yauhen Kanstantsinau
was fined 350,000 rubles.
After this, Kanstantsinau was summonsed to the office of Siarhei Brykun, head
of the ideological department of Naftan, who has repeatedly pressurized activists
of independent trade unions at the enterprise. Yauhen Kanstantsinau was told to
quit his job on his own free will, as he was threatened to be fired for
violation of an article of the Labor Code otherwise. On 5 July the activist had
to do it.
Yauhen Kanstantsinau was the only independent candidate in Navapolatsk during
the local election 2010, and actively worked in the electoral team of
presidential candidate Uladzimir Niakliayeu during the presidential election
2011.
