Searches in Apartments of Young Activists :: Charter'97 :: News

Policemen have searched apartments of activists of the “Young Front” in Baranavichy and Vorsha, Radio Svaboda informs. Stickers, badges, CDs founds by policemen, were taken to a police department. An activist of Vorsha regional branch Syarhei Huminski has been called in for questioning. A criminal action was brought up against him for making political graffiti.

Policemen searched an apartment of Yarasalu Hryschenya. He is the leader of Baranavichy branch of the Young Front. He had been detained by policemen many times. Yaraslau’s mother told that a district policeman Andrei Voinau was among them. Policemen said that they have to check personal belongings of Yaraslau.

In the apartment policemen found several stickers “Jeans for Freedom” with a picture of Alyaksandr Kazulin, badges “I choose Freedom”. A day before, on January 8, policemen detained Yaraslau Hryschenya on a railway station in Baranavichy, when he was dismounting from Minsk train. All his stickers in his backpack were seized. However policemen haven’t drawn up a protocol.

Young Front activist Syarhei Huminski was detained in Vorsha in his apartment on December 24 overnight. A criminal case was opened against him for making political graffiti “Free Political Prisoners”, “Freedom to Dashkevich”, “Long live Belarus” and others. Syarhei is 18. He does not exclude that he faces the fate of Artur Finkevich, who is serving the term of corrective labour in Mahilyou for political graffiti.

“I was taken out of the apartment by two policemen. They told me that I was taken for identification, as some fight had taken place. And in the police department I was charged with making graffiti. My home was searched twice. Policemen visited my parents, looked for me. They visited my friends and asked about me. Now they are trying to find my friends,” Huminski said to Radio Svaboda.

Syarhei Huminski and Yaraslau Hryshchenya have been evicted from their educational institutions. They plan to continue studies abroad.