Participants Of Meeting With Condoleezza Rice Searched At Belarusian Border :: Charter'97 :: News

On April 22 in the night three participants of the meeting with the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Vilnius were subject to thorough customs examination at the border, told one of the participants of the meeting, a renowned lawyer Harry Pahanyajla.

As said by Pahanyajla, the car of one of the leaders of democratic women’s movement of Belarus, Ludmila Petina, which was transporting him and editor of the newspaper “Narodnaya Volya” Svetlana Kalinkina, was searched for more than an hour at the Belarusian customs office.

“It is well known, there is a list of politically suspect persons at the border. The authorities apparently were afraid that we could bring something illegal into the country. Our personal belongings and papers were examined carefully. The car inspection was painstaking as well; even the seats were dislocated and felt. We had an impression that we are considered some drug lords and ton of drugs are searched,” Pahanyajla stated.

On the same day another group of Belarusian politicians and public activists headed by the United Civil Party leader Anatol Lyabedzka, who were heading for Vilnius for working meetings with the European politicians, was searched scrupulously.