On July 30, Pyotr Markelau was sentenced to 12 days of administrative arrest under Art. 23.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (violation of regulations of holding mass events), his mother told Belsat.
A day earlier, Markelau, an activist of the Youth Bloc, was placed into a police van and driven away; the incident took place at the very heart of Minsk. He came to support political prisoner Dzmitry Furmanau’s mother and girlfriend who had been on hunger strike outside detention centre #1 in Valadarski street since July, 26.
According to the mother, Pyotr did not do anything wrong, he was just standing around. Some minutes after his arrival, however, riot policemen asked him to show his ID and take him to the van.
“We were looking for him all day long, we filed four complaints, but in vain, no one provided us with any information,” Iryna Markelava stressed.
A lawyer contacted the family only in the evening. It was her who informed them that Piotr was tried in Maskouski district police department. In should be noted that when reached by Pyotr’s parents, the officers of the department repeatedly said that the missing was not there.
“The lawyer and Pyotr talked via Skype. He complained that no meals had been provided from the moment of detention,” the activist’s mother said.
