German volunteers Zolwai Schoris and Susana Paul has been detained in Mahilyow's Leninski District Police Station for several hours. They are accused of violating their residence registration, journalist Ales Burakou who was at the police station, told the European Radio for Belarus.
"Yesterday evening, two security agents who did not present their IDs came to our foundation and demanded that the volunteers show up at the police station by 8:30 a.m. They were also filming the situation. The women have been in detention for three hours. Initially, there were accused of doing other things like meeting students at schools and the local university instead of just working with handicap children", he said.
But after the news leaked to the media, the girls are threatened with deportation, while the police have changed their strategy. Now the volunteers are accused of violating the registration. The girls refused to sign any statement. Police Capt. Iryna Lizgunova said they would be released soon.
The German embassy is aware of the situation. The girls arrived in Belarus 5 months ago to work with the Blue Coasts, an NGO that works with handicap children with a talent for arts.
