Police question activists of Tell the Truth campaign

Valiantsin Lazarenkau and Aliaksandr Kuzmin, activists of the Tell the Truth civil campaign, were questioned yesterday as witnesses by Biaroza district police deputy chief Senior Lieutenant Mikalai Prakurat.

The reason for the interrogation was a written request by head of Belaaziorsk town executive committee Viachaslau Dambrouski. On the basis of materials posted on the Internet, the official asked for a legal assessment of the actions of the activists of the campaign “Tell the Truth”.

Dambrouski said that their activities fell under Article 193 of the Criminal Code: activity on behalf of an unregistered organization.

“It is necessary to understand the word “campaign”. It’s just joint actions of people who want to solve a specific problem. For example, we spent over two years to solve the problem of cleaning the area of Lake Belaye. Many signatures were collected and sent to various departments to solve a simple question. The problem is solved – the campaign is over. But when there is a new problem, a new campaign is launched, when there are people who are willing to talk about it and act in the interests of the citizens. It’s just because there are many problems in Belaaziorsk that the authorities promised to address but forgot to do it. The activists are working hard to somehow help people with problems. It’s bad roads, the conflict with the house at 11-1 Praspekt Mira, the problem of pedestrian crossings, low temperature in the factory “Belkelme” and others,” says Valiantsin Lazarenkau.

That is why local authorities try to harass pro-active citizens. Instead of solving urban problems, Mayor Dambrouski, who has headed the town for more than 10 years, is engaged in suppressing activists.

The town police also questioned Aliaksandr Kuzmin’s mother and his neighbors.