Youth activists are haunted by military enlistment offices

12.06.2008. Тэгі: Young Front, political persecution, Belarusian Christian Democracy, youth leaders, Viachorka, elections-2008.
Крыніца: Праваабарончы альянс.

The military enlistment offices have started to summon activists of different youth organizations for medical examination with the aim of drafting them to army service.

Recently Franak Viachorka, activist of the youth wing of the Belarusian Popular Front Party, has been forcedly guarded to the military enlistment office of Savetski district of Minsk.

Now Aleh Shandarovich, the military commissioner of Masty district military enlistment office, threatens to bring a criminal case against the activist of the Young Front organization Ihar Shchakarevich, chief editor of the small-circulation newspaper Mastouskaya Prauda, for non-coming to the military enlistment office on a writ.

According to the press-secretary of the Young Front Tatsiana Shaputska, at present Shchakarevich studies in Bialystok, Poland. Though he is a student, the military enlistment office invited him for medical examination for drafting him. Besides, according to Shaputska, Shchakarevich is in Bialytsok with a fractured joint and cannot walk. Despite all this, lieutenant-colony Shandarovich continues threatening the activist with a criminal case.

‘This is doubtlessly linked to the upcoming electoral campaign. Ihar has often showed himself as a bright and active public activist, and was even expelled for it from Hrodna State University during the previous parliamentary election. Now the authorities are trying to neutralize all active people, who could return to Belarus or take part either in the boycott company, or, as in Ihar’s case, in the parliamentary election,’ commented the press secretary.

Meanwhile, Pavel Nazdra and Mikola Zhukouski, members of Mazyr branch of the organizing committee for the establishment of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party, are drafted for short-term army trainings. They were informed about it the day before the training. In the evening of 10 June Pavel Nazdra received a writ to the military enlistment committee.

‘As soon as I went out of my house, a man in civvies ran up to me and handed a paper’, said Pavel Nazdra. ‘I thought it was again an arrest, but this time I was summonsed to the military enlistment committee’. The training will last for 17 days. Mr. Nazdra thinks that the local authorities intend to prevent him for participation in the parliamentary election.

Mikola Zhukouski is a student, but the writ was handed to him despite it. It is unclear, how he can participate in the army training if he has to pass his exams at the specified time.

Zmitser Zhaleznichenka, activist of Homel branch of the BPF Youth, is illegally kept in the army for more than 150 days, though he had refused to give the oath of allegiance. He had been illegally expelled from Homel State University for political reasons and immediately drafted to the army.