On June 7, unknown individuals who looked like plainclothed policemen detained Pavel Sevyarynets, a co-chair of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party and ex-prisoner of conscience.
After participating in pre-election pickets near Kamarouski market in Minsk, the politician accompanied by about 20 activists and journalists was on his way home.
“When they were just round the corner, a silver-coloured van drove up. He [Pavel] and some other persons were forcibly pushed into the vehicle. Their fellows were trying to retake the detainees for about ten minutes by pulling them out and not letting the van pass,” Sevyarynets’ wife Volha said.
Residents of neighbouring blocks also tried to prevent the detention, she stressed. Volha Sevyarynets believes that her husband might be tried and sentences for showing up at the picket in Vitsebsk on May 31, since the police have drawn protocols upon the participants.
According to human rights centre Viasna, 18 persons were detained in Minsk and Homiel on June, 7. Among them are Valyantsin Fralou and Aleh Babrouski (members of initiative groups of wannabe presidential candidates Volha Kavalkova and Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya), activists Volha Nikalaichyk, Veranika Mishchanka, Usyaslau Pashkevich and others.
