Barysau: police disrupt canvassing picket of a democratic candidate
At about 11.50 a.m. the police detained the deputy head
of the United Civil Party Leu Marholin and a member of his electoral team,
Mikhail Vasiliieu near the large Barysau supermarket “Vesta”, where they were
collecting signatures in support of Marholin's candidacy.
The detainees were guarded to the Barysau District Police Department. It's
worth mentioning that a banner “For free elections without Lukashenka” was
hanged out at the picket together with a photo of Marholin, and the signers were
asked to sing not in support of Marholin, but for fair elections.
Less than an hour after the beginning of the picket a police patrol headed by
the head of the public security department of the Barysau DPD Volkau arrived.
The picketers were proposed to pack the agitation materials and signatures
sheets and come to the DPD.
The human rights defenders Maryna Statkevich and Aleh Matskevich who came to
the police department soon afterwords, learned that the detainees were kept at
the conference hall, waiting for a talk with Volkau and the arrival of a member
of Barysau constituency election commission #62.
When Maryna Statkevich asked whether she could be present during the talk as a
human rights defender or observer, the police demanded that she showed the
certificate of human rights defender or observer. As she couldn't have such
documents, she was not allowed to be present during the talk.
At 1.42 p.m. it became known that reports of questioning were drawn up against
the both of the detainees and one of them even received charges. The trial was
appointed on Monday, 6 August.
“Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”
