Belarusian Independent Observers Arrested For 15 Days

The court of Maskouski district of Minsk has passed incomparably tough sentences to the head of the civil initiative “Partnerstva”. The head of the initiative Mikalay Astrejka and two his assistants, Enira Branitskaya and Alyaksandr Bondarau, have been sentenced to 15 days of arrest. The observers were accused of violation of the Article 167 Part 2 of Administrative Code (active participation in an unsanctioned meeting) for holding the constitutive meeting of the public association of independent observers “Partnerstva”. Besides, Mikalay Astrejka was charged with the violation of the Article 166 of the Administrative Code (insubordination to lawful orders of police) for refusal to undergo a fingerprint examination. Another Astrejka’s assistant, Svyatlana Konnava, has been fined 30 basic units (about USD 400).

Minsk police has detained about 70 participants of the constitutive meeting of the public association of independent observers “Partnerstva”. The incident took place on October 29 in the morning in a cinema “Tsentralny”, where a hall had been rented by observers. Policemen appeared in 40 minutes after the meeting’s beginning, and classified the meeting as an unsanctioned mass rally. All detainees have been taken to the police department of Maskouski district of Minsk.

After giving written explanations, about 60 activists of the “Partnerstva” were released. Reports about administrative infringement (for illegal meeting) have been drawn up against four organizers of the meeting, including the leader of the “Partnerstva” M.Astrejka.

The “Partnerstva” initiative is known for organizing independent observation during election campaigns.

Charter97, 31/10/2005