National Bolshevik activist arrested ahead of “Stop-Tax” rally

Dzmitry Paliyenka, activist of the National Bolshevik Party, was detained on December 26 in Minsk. The detention took place at around 4 p.m. at the entrance to the MAZ plant, where he works. The activist was taken to the police department of Zavodski district and charged under Article 17.1 of the Administrative Code for “disorderly conduct.”

This morning, Judge Anastasia Osipchyk of Zavodski District Court sentenced him to 15 days of administrative arrest, having rejected a motion to screen the video footage from a camera at the entrance to the plant, which could testify that he did not make any illegal actions.

Dzmitry Paliyenka is going to appeal the judge's decision. The activist regards these illegal actions of law enforcement officers as preventive harassment ahead of today’s action “Stop-Tax”, as he is the administrator of the event’s community in the VKontakte social network.

The Human Rights Center "Viasna" reminds that this is not the first preventive detention of the youth activist. Likewise, he was isolated on the eve of the meeting of the Council of CIS Foreign Ministers, held in Minsk on October 24.