Human rights defenders draw attention to manifestations of neo-Nazism in Brest

The Brest regional newspaper “Zarya”  has published an article “Brown Distemper” about a severe beating of two citizens by fans of a local football club. As said by a member of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Valiantsin Lazarenkau, this article again confirms that there is really a neo-Nazi youth group among the local football fans.

“Brest human rights defenders have repeatedly drawn the attention of public agents, police and KGB officers to such facts, calling concrete names and addresses”, says Valiantsin Lazarenkau. “However, there were no actions in response. Moreover, KGB officers warned those who watched such activities against doing it.” As a result, the number of fights with the participation of neo-Nazis in Brest and other cities of the Brest region increases. Human rights defenders are alarmed by the absence of the due reaction from the law machinery, which is busy struggling with opposition political parties and NGOs that inform the population about the real socio-economical situation in the country.