Public Activist from Barysau Thoroughly Examined at the Border

04.10.2006.

On 3 October the public activist from Barysau Siarhei Salash was thoroughly examined by the border guards on the border with the Ukraine. He was going to Belarus by the train Lviv-Sent Petersburg. The Belarusian border guards examined the train at the first stop on the Belarusian territory. After this the border guards checked the passports.

Siarhei Salash: ‘The ensign who checked the passports, found my surname in one of the lists they carry with them while exercising the passport control. After it he told somebody on the walkie-talkie ‘There’s a ‘bug’ in the third carriage and took my passport away. Soon there came a border guard armed with a pistol and another customs officer. I think these were the chairs of the border and customs shifts. The boarder guard demanded that I presented my belongings for one more examination. I asked why they demanded it after the end of the check-up that was conducted by the customs officers. The border guard and the customs officer repeated their demand instead of answering. I opened my bag, the customs officer examined it and the border guard asked whether I had any CDs. However, I had nothing except for my personal belongings in the luggage. Then this border guard brought my passport back.’

During the presidential election S.Salash was one of the coordinators of Aliaksandr Milinkevich’s electoral campaign in Barysau district. The public activist thinks that in the case such examination on the border takes place because a person has been introduced into a certain list it is necessary to demand from the border guards and customs officers to explain the reasons for their actions.