The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News on the topic: detention

17.08.2007 Ivatsevichy: Police Detain Participants of Summer Camp

In the morning of 17 August fifteen members of the BPF Youth headed for the town of Ivatsevichy, from which they planned to come to Koidanava. When they arrived to Ivatsevichy, the police came up to them at the railway station and said that ‘a mobile phone had been stolen’. Then they copied the passport data of all participants of the event. A member of the BPF Youth Andrus Ihnatovich has been detained.

16.08.2007 Three Youth Activists Detained in Minsk for Posting Stickers

19-year-old Pavel Vinahradau and two under-aged friends were detained in Nezalezhnastsi Avenue in Minsk. The police searched them and found several stickers with the text ‘Our time has come. The European march’. The detainees were driven to Pershamaiski district police department of Minsk. The policemen composed on them reports for illegal distribution of leaflets. In three hours the activists were released. They can be punished with fines for this ‘violation’.

13.08.2007 Riot in Rock Club

At 8.20 p.m. on 11 August in the rock club Arena (Talbukhin Street-4, Minsk) the police forcedly stopped a concert in the memory of Illia Kurkou, aka ‘Smitana’ who tragically died 40 days ago at the age of 19. The police arrested five persons including the drummer of NaiSKAsok, one of the bands who performed at the concert.

13.08.2007 Police Arrest Valery Shchukin for ‘Begging’

Staff-members of Vitebsk railway department of the interior detained a well-known human rights activist Valery Schukin when he was raising funds for repaying Tatsiana Buynevich the moral damage caused to her when she was performing the responsibilities of the regional electoral commission secretary.

10.08.2007 Salihorsk Police Detain Young Front Activists

At about 10 a.m. on 10 August Salihorsk police detained four activists of youth movement including Barys Parkhamchuk, Andrei Tychyna and Ivan Shyla. The activists were returning home from a summer camp. The reason for the detention was that they held in their hands a white-red-white flag.

10.08.2007 Homel: Police Detain Youth Activist Andrei Tsianiuta

On 9 August in the center of Homel, in Paleskaya Street, persons in mufti detained a regional leader of Young Front Andrei Tsianiuta. Later the activist found that these persons were policemen. They drew him to Chyhunachny borough police department of Homel ‘for a talk’. There they searched his belongings, found several independent media outlets (including the officially registered Nasha Niva), composed a confiscation report and a report about illegal distribution of the editions. During the confiscation they violated the process norms. Soon the activist was released.

09.08.2007 Navapolatsk: Police Detain Aliaksei Trubkin

Today in the night the police have detained the youth activist Aliaksei Trubkin in Alimpiyskaya Street in Navapolatsk. They searched him without any explanations and found several stickers in his bag. Then they took him to the police station and composed an administrative report for distribution printed materials without output data.

08.08.2007 Smaliavichy: Court Justifies Activists Accused of 'Dirty Swearing'

On 7 August in in the central square of Smaliavichy (a town in Minsk region) the action 'Where's The Light?' was held. The matter is that about three months ago the town authorities have turned off the street lamps in order to save the electricity. About 60 persons took part in the action, including both democratic activists and ordinary citizens.

06.08.2007 Minsk Police Detain UCP Activists

On 5 August workers of Leninski borough police department of Minsk detained the activists of United Civil Party Artsiom Dareuski and Aliaksandr Siarhiyenka. In their bags the policemen found newspapers Freedom to Belarus, which the guys handed out. The policemen composed violation reports, confiscated 400 copies of the newspape, they recorded the detainees on video and took their fingerprints. The detention lasted for about three hours, then Dareuski and Siarhiyenka were let go.

03.08.2007 FIDH Condemns Serious Human Rights Violations Perpetrated in Belarus on Occasion of State Sovereignty Day

Paris, July 31, 2007 – The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) expresses its deepest concern regarding a wave of arbitrary arrests and subsequent detentions of several opposition members in the run-up of the Belarus « State Sovereignty Day », which took place on July 27, 2007.

02.08.2007 Anatol Liabedzka Complains to Prosecutor’s Office

The leader of United Civil Party Anatol Liabedzka has applied to the General prosecutor’s office of Belarus concerning his detention on 27 July, during celebration of the 17th anniversary of the State Sovereignty Declaration by the united democratic forces.

02.08.2007 Minsk: Police Detain Youth Activists in Apartment Rented by Krystsina Shatsikava

Last night persons in mufti who introduced themselves as workers of the police department of organized crimes burst into an apartment in Paliavaya Street 26 in Minsk, which was rented by the public activist Krystsina Shatsikava. The policemen stated that they suspected those who were there in illegal stay in the apartment which was owned by another person and in property theft. They also wrote it in the detention reports.

01.08.2007 Minsk: Police Detain Activists of Campaign for Protection of Freedom of Conscience

On 27 July in Minsk the police detained Zmitser Butenka and Andrei Litsvinau, activists of the campaign for protection of freedom of conscience, members of Minsk church New Life of the Association of Christian Denominations of Full Evangel in the Republic of Belarus. According to the information given to BelaPAN by the church lawyer Siarhei Lukanin, the youngsters were heading for St. Symon and Alena church in Nezalezhnastsi Square, where there they intended to collect signatures for amendment of the law on religion. However, at about 4 p.m. near Minsk hotel they were detained by the police.

01.08.2007 Administrative Case against Ales Shulzhytski ‘Expires’

On 30 July judge of Smarhon district court Aliaksandr Dziameshchyk stopped an administrative case against a public activist Uladzimir Shulzhytski because of expiry of the 3-month term for the case consideration.