Homel police “lose” items seized during detention of Young Front activists

Activists of the Young Front’s Homel branch have been unable to return their items seized by police during the arrest on February 22, when Andrei Tsianiuta and Stanislau Bula, as well as an activist of a coalition named “Our Alternative” Natallia Kryvashei, were detained by police during a rally in memory of the victims of Kyiv’s Maidan protests. They laid flowers, lit candles and were soon detained by the police. After the activists were brought to the police department of the Tsentralny district, police officers took a camera, USB drives, a flash card, several fridge magnets, ribbons and a Guy Fawkes mask. The procedure was registered as a seizure, and a paper was attached to the administrative offense report.

On April 17, the Tsentralny District Court of Homel found the activists guilty of “violating the order of holding mass events” and issued official warnings.

However, their belongings have not yet been returned.

Natallia Kryvashei petitioned the Tsentralny district police department of Homel urging the officials to return the things. She then received a reply saying that the seized items had been transferred to the Tsentralny District Court together with the administrative offense report. However, when the activist wrote to the court, she was told that no things had been sent to them from the police department, except for the administrative offense report. On May 28, Ms. Kryvashei complained about the incident to the prosecutor of Homel. She hopes that prosecutors will find the lost things. “The police officers must have liked the Guy Fawkes mask so they decided to leave it,” says the activist.