Head of Observer Mission detained in Belarus
The detention has been reported in Minsk of Rssian human rights activist and Head of the Committee for International Monitoring of the Human Rights Situation in Belarus, Andrei Yurov.
Around 21.00 on Wednesday, two members of the Sovetskoye District Department of the Ministry of the Interior tried to get into the Committee’s offices. They claimed that they were checking passports and that they had reliable information suggesting that foreign nationals were living in the flat. Since they could not provide the relevant court order, they were not allowed in. However they spoke with Andrei Yurov on the stairwell and took him to the Sovetskoye Police Department claiming that he was on the list of persons banned from entering Belarus.
Andrei Yurov is now being held in custody and there is information suggesting that the authorities plan to initiate criminal proceedings on a charge of illegally crossing the border (Article 371 of the Belarusian Criminal Code).
Please show solidarity with Andrei Yurov and all those standing up for democratic freedoms in Belarus. WRITE IN BELARUSIAN, RUSSIAN OR ENGLISH to the Russian Embassy in Belarus (8-10-375-17) 250-36-64) demanding that it intercedes on Yurov’s behalf.
Please also contact your own sources and help ensure that flagrant violations of human rights in Belarus do not go unnoticed.