Zhabinka: Mass detentions start after portraits of Lukashenka appeared at town dump
Yet on June 2, the Belarusian Interior Ministry confirmed the mass detentions of residents of the town of Zhabinka (Brest region). Belsat TV has been reporting the corresponding facts for the past two weeks.
According to the ministry, officers of the Main Directorate for Combatting Organised Crime and Corruption (GUBAZiK/GUBOPiK) detained 12 protesters aged 17 to 46. Four of them have been defined as suspects in a criminal case for publicly insulting Lukashenka and contempt of the official flag. The others were charged with participation in protests, distribution of ‘extremist products’ and disobedience to the police.
As reported earlier, local police made an unexpected visit to the place of the Lisichyk family on May 19. At 6.45 am 20-year-old Dzmitry Lisichyk was handcuffed and taken away. He was placed in the pre-trial detention centre in Brest. Before the arrest, the young man had been repeatedly detained on suspicion of taking part in protests.
On May 26, Belsat.eu got information about a large-scale raid in Zhabinka. People were detained en masse, and their homes were searched. Local residents Svyatlana Aksyutsik, Dzmitry Suprun, Alyaksandr Myasnikou, Alyaksandr Darafeeu, Dzmitry Lisichyk were among the detainees then. The eyewitnesses said they saw Lisichyk, who was severely beaten, in the GUBAZiK building.
A day later, at least 12 people were grabbed near the sugar factory by officers of the Almaz special unit.
Apparently, the reason for the mass detentions was ‘insulting’ inscriptions and portraits of Alyaksandr Lukashenka which appeared on the night of May 18 at one of the town dumps, which resulted in launching a criminal case by the authorities.
belsat.eu
