BСD activists charged with holding unauthorized event over calls for election boycott

Activists of Belarusian Christian Democracy (BCD) who participated in events promoting a boycott of the forthcoming parliamentary elections, are facing a charge of violating regulations governing mass events, the BCD executive secretary, Dzyanis Sadowski, told BelaPAN on Wednesday.

According to him, some BCD activists, who participated in such events in late July or early August, were visited by officers of the Savetski district police station. "In particular, police officer came to the home of Halina Karzhanewskaya and Ina Loyka, questioned them about the events and drew up charge sheets against them," Mr. Sadowski said. "They explained that the girls had not collected ballot-access signatures for our contender Maryna Khomich but gathered signatures in support of political prisoners."

Mr. Sadowski noted that policemen had brought summonses. "This means that everything was agreed upon with a judge in advance," he noted.

"It is obvious that collecting signatures for a petition for the release of political prisoners irritates the authorities to no lesser extent than our campaign for boycotting the elections. The charge sheets against the girls show how the authorities try to prevent people from being informed about political prisoners in the country," Mr. Sadowski said. "The authorities can see that people willingly sign petitions in support of political prisoners and express their solidarity. We’ll step up our campaign for boycotting the elections in response to the authorities’ intimidation."