Homiel: Presidential hopeful detained

The persecution of opposition activists in Belarus seems to have reached new frontiers: one of wannabe presidential candidates has been taken to the police.

On June 5, Uladzimir Nyapomnyashchykh was detained in the Belarusian city of Homel, activist Vasil Palyakou said on Facebook.

According to Palyakou, the policemen approached Nyapomnyashchykh on the street and asked him to follow them to Tsentralny district police department. It is higly likely that he will be charged with participating in a picket to collect signatures for nomiitation for presidency on May, 31. Notably, a would-be presidential contender does not have to get permission from the authorities for holding such a picket.

The policemen said they would release Nyapomnyashchykh after drawing a protocol upon him.

In May, the Belarusian Central Election Commission registered 15 of 55 initiative groups. It means that over a dozen wannabe candidates got the green light for collecting signatures to be nominated for the 2020 presidential run. There are both establishment and moderate opposition politicians among them.

To officially become a presidential candidate, a seeker must get 100,000 signatures for his/her nomination. The initiative groups are to be engaged in collecting signatures from May, 21 to June, 19. The names of the candidates will be made public in mid July.

This year’s presidential campaign is indicative of the people’s fatigue with the 26-year rule of Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Last Sunday, thousands of people throughout the country lined up to put their signatures for any of his rivals. Especially large queues formed after blogger Syarhei Tsikhanouski, a trustee and husband of Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, had been detained in Hrodna on May, 29.

Since late May, dozens of persons, including members of initiative groups and civil activists, have been detained or prevented from taking part in pre-election pickets.

belsat.eu