Activist of the BPF Party is fired from ‘Beltransgas’

05.06.2008. Tags: elections, Belarusian Popular Front, dismissals, elections-2008.

Alexander Mekh, the chairman of Kobryn organization of the Belarusian Popular Front Party, was warned that he would be fired from work. The activist associates it with his intention to run at the upcoming parliamentary election.

Alexander Mekh has been working in Kobryn office of the gas-main pipeline Beltransgas for 14 years already. At first he was a master, now he is an engineer. There are no pretensions to his work. However, on 4 June he was summonsed by the head of the office, Uladzimir Haloshka, who informed Mekh that his working contract, which expires at the end of June, will not be prolonged.

The talk took place in presence of the persons, who introduced himself as the head of the local KGB office, but did not tell his surname. According to Mekh, the KGB officer was not only watching the events, but also tried to prove his position. The activist believes that he is fired because of his intention to run at the election and this dismissal is a warning for other activists.

Alexander Mekh is the head of Kobryn branch of the BPF Party and an active supporter of the For Freedom movement. He says that in the case of dismissal it will be difficult for him to find a job even in a private firm.

According to the observers, dismissal from job for political reasons is not the only means of pressurization which is used by the Belarusian authorities now. Recently Minsk police have detained the public activist Zmitser Shymanski and confiscated from him money for ‘expertise’. They also videotaped his interrogation. Later the video was shown on the TV. ‘They will do it more and more often on the eve of the election, to compromise the opposition’, commented Zmitser Shymanski.