The representatives of European Belarus civil campaign have come to the attention of the authorities.
On June 10, Artsyom Charnyak and Dzmitry Kazlou were detained by riot policemen, European Belarus said on Telegram. The reasons for the arrest have not been given.
Just few hours earlier, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka promised to prevent ‘coups or maidan-like revolutions’ in the country.
From 6 May to 10 June, a total of 1,093 days of administrative arrest has been slapped on 90 Belarusians, according to estimations by human rights centre Viasna. 102 persons got fines to the tune of 86,000 Belarusian rubles. The human rights defenders stress that the authorities resort to the articles of the Code of Administrative Offences for political persecution of dissidents.
“Citizens continue to be charged and tried for expressing their opinion or even just for attending peaceful rallies and pickets to collect signatures,” Viasna reports.
This year’s presidential campaign is indicative of the people’s fatigue with the 26-year rule of Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Since late May, thousands of people throughout the country have been lining up to put their signatures for any of his rivals.
