Illegal raid under protection of riot police

The Mahilou authorities demolished the fence around the house of a large family belonging to the Pentecostal Church.

The family saw many attempts for the last three years to ruin the permanent fence that hindered the construction of a block of flats near Hrabouskaya Street. Until today, the family and members of the Pentecostal community with pastor Vitaly Radchanka have successfully defended the fence and prevented the takeover, BelaPAN news agency reports.

Tatsiana Radchanka, a mother of 12 children, was going to show documents to construction workers, their supervisors and police officers, but they said they didn't need any documents.

“The children were sleeping. I woke them up and said they were ruining our fence. The children wanted to block the road for a tractor, but riot policemen began to pull them away. The struggle lasted 10 or 15 minutes. Of course, they won, because they were stronger. It took them 1.5 hours to demolish the fence,” Radchanka said.

The woman says the fence is not the matter principle.

“We are against the construction works. We already suffer from waterlogging. There's water in the basement all year round. It is a catastrophe,” the woman says.

She notes she will apply to a court, but she doesn't believe her family can win the case against the authorities.

“I don't trust the local courts. Only higher courts can help. The local courts are against us,” Radchanka said.

“We are not the only family that has this problem. We asked to start a draining process and stop construction works. Many people signed the petition, but they ignore us. They do whatever they want. They can kill us like in Stalin's times,” the woman thinks.

According to Radchanka, her husband with a class 2 disability is at hospital now.

The authorities claim the land near Radchanka's house was enclosed by the fence illegally.