Svetlahorsk: Police Look for Mineral Fertilizers in Bookcases

08.10.2007. Tags: actions, political persecution, benefit cuts.

In the evening of 5 October in Svetlahorsk the police searched the apartment of a local democratic activist Telman Masliukou. They said that they were looking for canisters with mineral fertilizers.

The local correspondents informed HRC Viasna that in April an attempt of theft of mineral fertilizers had taken place in Baraviki collective farm and one of Masliukou’s relatives had been allegedly a figurant in the case. The investigation found that nothing had been stolen and the case was stopped because of absence of corpus delicti. However, recently the case has been reopened and Svetlahorsk prosecutor sanctioned a search for the ‘stolen fertilizers’ in Masliukou’s apartment.

The local police inspector, senior police lieutenant Dzianis Katkavets and the police lieutenant Dzmitry Kazak started their search from Masliukou’s bookcases. There they found a file of a local independent newspaper Rehiyanalnyia Naviny. Then they started consulting with their administration over mobile phones. Then they saw that there was only one copy of each newspaper in the file. They failed to find anything else that could have any relation to the case. By the way, on the eve of the presidential election 2006 the police also searched the apartment to find ‘drugs and arms’. Telman Masliukou against to appeal against this search.

On 16 September in Svetlahorsk the police also examined the apartment of Arseni Yahorchanka, 17-year student of the European Humanities University (EHU) in Vilnius, within the frames of a criminal case against an unregistered NGO Young Front. On 25 September Telman Masliukou, who studies at the EHU magistracy, was interrogated by the local KGB concerning this very case. On 30 September Sveltahorsk police searched the apartments of Siarhei Dayneka and Sviatlana Mikhalchanka who protested against the repeal of social benefits to disabled persons, pensioners and youth.