Vitsebsk police passing case of Chernobyl picket to Kastrychnitski District Court
Yan Dziarzhautsau, Vitsebsk activist of the Conservative Christian Party “Belarusian Popular Front”.
On 30 April the member of the
Conservative-Christian Party "Belarusian Popular Front" Yan
Dziarzhautsau was charged with a violation of the Law "On Mass
Events". The police summonsed him to Kastrychnitski District
Police Department in order to register the violation which they
hadn't witnessed – the violation report was drawn up on the basis
of the photos found on the Internet.
Yan Dziarzhautsau states
that at the police station he was asked about the action they held
together with his fellow partisan Vital Kavalenka on 26 April, an
anniversary of Chernobyl accident. They went out to Zamkavaya Street
and to the monument to P. Masherau with the posters "Only an
enemy of Belarus can construct a nuclear power plant without the
people's agreement", and "Dictator if you construct an NPP
in Astravets you'll reap Chernobyl".
Most probably, the
police were called by a passer-by. However, the police car arrived
when the activists rolled up their posters and were going to leave.
The police warned that unfurling of the posters would be qualified as
an unauthorized event. However, the deputy head of the public order
and prophylaxis department Andrei Ivanou asked to be shown what was
written on them – "to see whether there are no calls to coup
d'etat".
A police cameraman was shooting us on video
while we were talking to Ivanou. It can be seen on the video that the
posters are rolled up. We were accompanied by a police patrol up to a
public transport station so that we wouldn't unfurl the posters in
another place. However, at Kastrychnitski DPD I was told that there
were many witnesses of our picket. I answered that it wasn't a
picket, as far as we didn't express any political slogans or demands.
There some our opinions on the posters – that we are against the
construction of the NPP in Belarus. I think that people have the
right to free expression of their opinion, but the police seem to
disagree with it," said Yan Dziarzhautsau.
The activist
says that the action was shot on mobile phones. In the midday of 26
April the photos appeared at various websites. According to the
police, it can become an evidence at the trial.
At
Kastrychnitski DPD Yan Dziarzhautsau was said that the case would be
passed to court on 6 May. The police are also looking for the other
participant of the picket, Siarhei Kavalenka's brother Vital
Kavalenka to present him with a notice and draw up a violation
report.
