Viktar Harbachou: “It’s outright provocation of regime ahead of protest rally”

The leader of the campaign “For free development of entrepreneurship” Viktar Harbachou has called his detention in the run-up to the protest rally of market vendors “an outright provocation of the regime”.

“Law-enforcers have warned me that on January 8-9 authorities would try to isolate organizers of the protect rally of entrepreneurs planned for January 10 on October Square in Minsk. That is why when an unknown man started to pester me and tried to start a fight, my actions were extremely correct, though he bothered my wife and son too. Buit when policemen approached us, the unknown man escaped immediately. POlcemen were just laughing at him, saying he can ran so quickly, and arrested us,” Viktar Harbachou told about the details of his detention near the railway station in Barysau from the local police station.

A blood alcohol test was taken from Viktar Harbachou without explanation. By 11 a.m. policemen questioned his wife Svyatlana and Viktar Harbachou himself. Though Harbachou’s family is the injured party, without any explanations they are kept in the police department together with their underage son.

At the same time, as said by Harbachou, at 11 a.m. a meeting of the leaders of market vendors’ movement and of owners of shopping centres and markets of the city was to take place. The sides planned among other issues to discuss the strike of market vendors and the imminent protest rally.

As we have informed, Viktar Harbachou and his family were detained at about 9.30 a.m. at Barysau’s railway station, when an unknown man tried to start a fight with him. When policemen approached, the man escaped.

On January 1 a strike of market vendors started in Belarus. They protest against the discriminatory decree No. 760 which came into force on January 1, 2008. The Decree prohibits individual entrepreneurs hire workers expect close relatives.

Entrepreneurs demand the authorities to impose moratorium on the execution of the decree until the Law on small and medium business would be adopted. The authorities refused to make concessions to entrepreneurs. Because of that market vendors plan to hold a protest rally on October Square in Minsk on January 10 at twelve noon.